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MODJESKA AS "JULIET.' 



HELENA MODJESKA 



BY 



JAMESON TORR ALTEMUS 



WKfy 3iittstrattou3 



/ 



r 

New York 

J. S. OGILVIE AND COMPANY 

31 Rose Street. 






Copyright, 1883, 

By J. S'.'^GILVIE 
>•• * 

ALL EIGHTS RESERYED. 



TO 

MY FRIEND 

fljennj dag ffitkns, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS 

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 



1 



There are four sisters, known to mortals well, 

Whose names are Joy and Sorrow, Death and Love : 
This last it was who did my footsteps move . 

To where the other deep-eyed sisters dwell. 

To-night, or ere yon painted curtain fell, 
These, one by one, before my eyes did rove 
Through the brave mimic world that SI. ikespere wove. 

Lady ! thy art, thy passion were the spell 

That held me, and still holds ; for thou dost show, 
With those most high each in his sovereign art, — 
Shakespere supreme, Beethoven and Angelo, — 

Great art and passion are one. Thine too the part, 
To prove that still for him the laurels grow 

Who reaches through the mind to pluck the heart. 

R. W. Gilder. 



CONTENTS 



Introductory 

Helena Benda's Childhood .... 

Studying Shakespeare 

First Appearance in Bochnia .... 

Debut in Cracow . 

Count Charles Bozenta Chlapowski 

First Appearance as "Adrienne Lecouvreur" . 

First Appearance in America .... 

Return to Poland and Debut in London . 

Return to America and closing performance at Booth's 

Theatre, New York 

Modjeska's "Juliet" 

Modjeska's " Marie Stuart ". 
Modjeska's ' ' Adrienne Lecouvreur " 
Modjeska's " Odette " . 

Modjeska's-" Camille" 

Modjeska's "Frou-Frou" . 

Modjeska in New York . . . 

Modjeska in London ...... 

Success on the Stage 



13 
19 
29 

40 
52 
60 
69 
82 
93 

108 
123 
137 
J 45 
15* 
165 

173 

181 

195 
207 



INTRODUCTORY, 




EORGE HENRY LEWES, in his 
work " On Actors and the Art of 
Acting/' speaks of Rachael as the 
panther of the stage, who represented scorn, 
triumph, rage, lust and merciless malignity 
in symbols of irresistible power; but who 
had little tenderness, no womanly caressing 
softness, no gayety, no heartiness ; although 
at the same time she was so graceful and so 
powerful that her air of dignity was incom-* 
parable. Ristori, too, was, in the minds of 
many critics, the greatest actress the theatri- 
cal world has ever known; while Neilson 



14 INTRODUCTORY. 

also enjoyed a large share of the laurels 
awarded to the great of histrionic fame. 

But within the past few years a greater 
star than any of these has arisen in Madame 
Helena Modjeska, the Countess Bozenta. 
The critics of Europe and America, the Sche- 
legels of to-day, who enjoy the reputation 
of being both unbiased and severe, have all 
pronounced her as being the first tragic 
actress on the stage. 

In studying Madame Modjeska's acting, 
we find that she follows Ristori in her style ; 
that is as far as her own genius will allow 
her to follow any one. In every part she 
aims at originality, and has a deep sympa- 
thetic feeling for the character. Rachael 
worked up her scenes with mathematical 
preciseness, until they became a vigorous 
denunciation of her enemy. They were 
grand and magnificent pieces of elocution, 
but they lacked that soul-stirring power, 
which is noticeable in Madame Modjeska's 
acting and which works on her audience in 



INTRODUCTORY. 1 5 

such a manner that they are held spell- 
bound, as it were, with fascination for the 
characters which she portrays. 

To recognise genius is a genuine pleas- 
ure, and to appreciate its power is to feel in- 
spiration. * When it flashes and illuminates 
there is a revelation that brings the vast pos- 
sibilities of the human brain to the conscious- 
ness of those who see and feel. Madame 
Modjeska is a woman of genius, who has 
ripened by study until she has become a 
master of the parts she assumes. With ele- 
ments of reason, definite, absolute and 
emphatic ; with principles settled, strenuous, 
deep and unchangeable as her being ; her 
wisdom is exquisitely practicable ; with 
subtlist sagacity it apprehends every change 
in the circumstances in which it is to act, and 
can accommodate its action without loss of 
vigor or alteration of its general purpose. 
Its theories always "lean and hearken " to 
the actual. By a sympathy of the mind 
almost transcendental in its delicacy, its spe- 



1 6 INTRODUCTORY. 

dilations are attracted into a parallelism with 
the logic of life and nature. Her percep- 
tions, feelings, tone, are always up to the 
level of the hour. 

While at the Imperial Theatre at Warsaw, 
the fineness of her acting came like a revela- 
tion of dramatic art to those who were her 
auditors. She worked hard for the building- 
up of the drama in Poland, and on its stage 
she introduced the highest dramatists of other 
countries — Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, 
and the classics of the French and Italian 
sta<re. She became the adored actress of her 
country, stimulating its intellect and influenc- 
ing its enthusiastic youth. In private her 
influence was as strong as in public. Her 
salons in Warsaw and Cracow, her country 
seat at Zakapani, were the rendezvous of thv. 
patriots, artists and illustrious men and wo- 
men of Poland. 

The intellectuality of the artiste is crowned 
by the simplicity of a pure womanhood. It 
is a pleasure greater than words can express 



INTRODUCTORY. 1 7 

to find art so free from meretriciousness, and 
genius so self-poised and assured as not to 
fall beneath its own ideal. Madame Modjes- 
ka's success in this country is for more rea- 
sons than one, a tribute to the appreciative 
instincts of American play-goers. The fas- 
cination of the actress evokes a quick enthu- 
siasm, growing and deepening as we better 
realize the strength and delicacy of the art, 
which, while it stands apart in its originality, 
never loses itself in eccentricity or straining 
itself in wild effort to o'erstep the modesty 
of nature. It would be presumption on my 
part, after the verdict of so many older and 
more experienced critics, to attempt to criti- 
cise or analyze the method of Madame Mod- 
jeska's art. Her acting is more ideal and 
therefore more real than that of any actress 
on the stage to-day, and it is this which gives 
a finish and distinctness to each of her crea- 
tions. 

Madame Modjeska's career has been such 

a remarkable and, in some instances, roman- 

2 



1 8 INTRODUCTORY. 

tic one, that I have been induced to write the 
record of her life for the benefit of her many 
admirers. 

This will be the initial volume of a series 
of similar biographies of the noted men and 
women on the stage to-day, as well as 
those who delighted thousands of auditors in 
the past. If these prove a success, a more 
extensive work on the history of the stage 
may follow. Such a work is needed greatly 
by those who are supporters and admirers of 
the drama, as well as by the members of the 
theatrical profession. I now give this little 
volume to the public, hoping that it may be 
well received, and that it may prove inter- 
esting to those who may read it. 




"M 



HELENA MODJESKA 



CHAPTER I. 




Ambition was an idol on whose wings, 
Great minds are carried only to extreme — 
To be sublimely great, or to be nothing." 

RACOW, the second city of Galicia 
or Austrian Poland, though very 
quietly situated in a plain surrounded 
by hills and on the left bank of the Vistula, 
has had a remarkable existence ever since it 
was founded, during the earlier part of the 
'tenth century ; and through the patriotism of 
its inhabitants it remained a free town long- 
after the people of Poland had allowed their 
independence to be taken from them. It was 
destroyed several times during the uprisings 



20 HELENA MODJESKA. 

of its citizens ; but by energy and enterprise 
it was speedily rebuilt each time. In 1320 
it became the capital of Poland instead of 
Gnesen. In 1039 it was captured by the 
Bohemians; in 1241 by the Tartans; in 1655 
by the Swedes under Charles X. ; in 1702 by 
Charles XII. ; and in 1768, after having sup- 
ported the cause of the confederation of Bar, 
by the Russians. After the fall of Kosciusko, 
who made Cracow the starting point of his 
revolution, it was on the partition of Poland 
taken by Austria. In 1809 ft was annexed 
to the duchy of Warsaw, which - was created 
by Napoleon. 

At the opening of 1830, the people of Po- 
land commenced to grow discontented, and 
from this year up to 1846, the country was in 
a state of revolution. It was during this 
period of political excitement, the horrors of 
war, and the desolation of homes, in 1844, 
that Helena Benda was born. The misery 
ai-'l horror of this period was vividly painted 
on her memory, and with infant eyes she saw 



HELENA MODJESKA. 21 

her countrymen murdered outside of the door 
of her own home, and in her ears she heard 
the heart-rending shrieks and moans of the 
widowed, orphaned and oppressed. Being a 
witness of such scenes of cruel injustice, natu- 
rally the fire of patriotism was kindled in her 
veins, and in after life she became an enthu- 
siastic lover of her country with a passionate 
personal affection. 

Hundreds of stories could be written about 
the scenes witnessed by Helena Benda, but 
it is not my purpose to give any harrow- 
ing details, no matter how romantic they may 
be. 

Helena Benda was the child of Michael 
Opid and Madame Benda, who had some chil- 
dren by her first husband. Michael Opid 
was born among the mountains, his people 
all being mountaineers and descendants of an 
old and respected family. He was a man of 
scholarly and artistic tastes, devoted much of 
his time to the study of Latin and Greek, 
was a patron and devotee to music and the 



2 2 HELENA MODJESKA. 

drama, a great admirer of art, and became an 
eminent philologist before his death. Sing- 
ers, musicians, actors, artists and litera- 
teures, frequented his home, and from child- 
hood Helena was surrounded with everything 
that would tend to cultivate in her the artistic 
taste. Her father gave her the name of 
Helena because her head was small and well 
formed. As a child she went by the name 
of Helicia, the Polish diminutive of Helena. 

Michael Opid was the first to discover his 
daughter's intense interest for music and the 
drama, and he devoted much time and atten- 
tion to her education and teaching her Latin 
and Greek, so that when still quite young 
she became proficient and thoroughly conver- 
sant with these literatures. Madame Modjes- 
ka speaks of the pleasure she derived from 
reading the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, and 
often refers to the profound impression they 
left on her memory. 

Michael Opid took a heavy cold while 
attending at the sick bed of a friend ; and 



HELENA MODJESKA. 23 

this, together with grieving about the death 
of his brother, who committed suicide, 
brought on consumption. Hoping to recu- 
perate his health he went to his early home 
in the mountains, attended by one of his 
sons, his wife not being able to accompany 
him with so many children dependent on her 
care. Soon after his arrival at his destina- 
tion he died, after being confined to his bed 
for a few days. His nature was generous 
and affectionate, and his love for his family 
was unceasing. 

When Helena was seven years old she 
was taken for the first time to the opera. 
This excited her sensitive nature so much 
that it was thought best not to take her any 
more, nor did she enter a theatre again until 
she was fourteen. The impression of this 
first visit to the theatre took such a strong 
hold on her mind that she amused herself 
continually by imitating the performers. 

The Polish people attempted to rise about 
this time, and were led by Mieroslawski. 



24 HELENA MODJESKA. 

This revolution was unsuccessful, and was 
speedily put down. The peasants next rose 
against their nobles in Galicia, and the 
republic of Cracow was destroyed by fire. 
Madame Opid lost all her property, and she 
and her children narrowly escaped with their 
lives. Helena and her little sister fled by 
themselves, and while the two children ran 
hand-in-hand out of the city, they narrowly 
escaped being crushed to death beneath the 
feet of frantic horses and the terrified 
crowd. They came to the bank of a 
small stream, and the youngest fell in. 
Helena cried loudly for assistance, but 
every one was too much wrapped up in 
thinking of their own safety, and the distress 
of the children was not noticed. By consid- 
erable effort the little heroine succeeded in 
rescuing her little sister alone, and carried 
her, more dead than alive, to where the other 
members of the family had taken refuge. 
The suffering of the unfortunates was in- 
tense, and for days the people slept in barns, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 25 

cellars, or any place where they could find 
shelter. Penniless, and almost clotheless, 
they wandered about from place to place 
with hardly enough to eat. Thus, too early, 
Helena was brought face to face with misery 
and the misfortune of poverty, which only 
the poor know. 

When the political disturbances had quiet- 
ed down, Madame Opid took a house in 
Cracow, and the whole family had to resort 
to every expedient to earn money. The 
youngest son, who was fourteen, went to 
work as a common carpenter. He dis- 
played great talent for drawing, obtained an 
excellent position, studied hard and became 
a professor of architecture. An elder brother, 
Josef Benda, who was married, was left a 
widower with one child, which he gave in 
charge of his mother, and then went upon 
the stage. Helena took care of her little 
niece, lavishing on her much care and atten- 
tion, and at the same time went to a convent 



20 HELENA MODJESKA. 

every day to school, where she was taught 
by some charitable nuns. 

Josef Benda's name soon became known in 
the different Polish towns as a clever come- 
diari and writer of plays. Helena found 
much to occupy her spare time in reading 
every book she came across, as well as copy- 
ing her brother's theatrical plays. Her 
other brother, Felix Benda, adopted the 
profession about this time, and became one 
of the most popular actors in Poland. At 
home the children had a theatre of their 
own, where they amused themselves in per- 
forming Greek plays, which were written by 
the brothers. At fourteen Helena, together 
with her brothers, wrote a play which was 
performed on the family stage. It portrayed 
the Greek revolution, and was full of tragedy 
and emotion. In the performance of her 
part, Helena became so excited that her 
mother was compelled to interfere, and this 
put an end to the home theatricals. It is 
said that at this performance her acting 



HELENA MODJESKA. 2 J 

was so full of feeling and pathos, that every- 
one in the small audience was moved to 
tears. 

Her mother, fearing that her health would 
be injured, would not allow her to witness 
any plays except those in German, supposing 
that they would not interest the imaginative 
child. But it is seen how great was that 
careful mother's mistake. Helena now took 
a great interest in the German drama, in fact 
the effect was so great, that she commenced 
the study of German, and by the aid of a dic- 
tionary she read Schiller's plays, sitting up 
whole nights in doing so. She became 
infatuated with the author and fairly wor- 
shipped him. With money that she had 
saved from her earnings she bought a bust 
of Schiller and placed it in her room. While 
she worked at helping her mother sew, her 
thoughts were far away, thinking of some 
romance or poetic idea, often composing 
poetry and entertaining herself alone by 
reciting selections from the works of the 



2 8 HELENA MODJESKA. 

great authors, whom she considered her 
warmest and dearest friends. Her ambitions 
were awakened, and her whole desire at this 
period was to do something- great. Still she 
had to work hard, and at times she would 
become so depressed with thinking of her 
trials and privations, that she would wander 
out into the country alone, find some secluded 
spot to rest, and then build castles in the air 
and dream of some splendid career sur- 
rounded by honors. She yearned for an 
opportunity to show itself, so that she might 
display the courage of a Joan of Arc. 
She felt that she ought to write and become 
illustrious as an authoress, and while in these 
moods, her old phantom, the stage, would 
loom up before her, and she dreamed of the 
footlights, and a sea of up-turned faces, 
breathless with wonder at the words she 
uttered. 



CHAPTER II. 

While o'er my limbs sleep's soft dominion spread, 
What though my soul fantastic measures trod 
O'er fairy fields ; or mourned along the gloom 
Of pathless woods ; or down the craggy steep 
Hurled headlong, swims with pain the mantled pool ; 
Or scaled the cliff, or danced on hollow winds, 
With antic shapes wild natives of the brain ? 
Her ceaseless flight, though devious, speaks her nature, 
Of subtler essence than the trodden clod ; — 
Of human weal, heaven husbands all events, 
Dull sleep instructs, nor sport vain dreams in vain." 

— Young. 




HE yearning for something highei 
and better in life took such a strong 
hold on the mind of the sensitive 
girl, that her desires followed her night 
and day, so that they became as a phan- 
tom, which she found impossible to get 
rid of. Something within her seemed 



30 HELENA MObjES&A. 

to be continually saying that her station 

in life would be high, and that she would 
be successful. When she spoke to any 
one about her ambition to go on the 
stage, she was laughed at, and even in her 
own family her powers were not considered 
sufficient to warrant any of her brothers pay- 
ing much attention to their development. 
This derision only made her the more de- 
termined to overcome all obstacles, and to 
show those around her that she had ability. 
At times she wished for the solitude of the 
convent ; and once, when she was greatly dis- 
appointed, she thought of becoming a nun. 
Her day dreams were a source of pleasure to 
her, and even while working she would 
become listless to everything around her and 
her thoughts would wander into the future. 
This inattention would make her mother very 
angry at times, so that she would ex- 
claim : 

" Helena is so lazy, that it is impossible to 
get her to do anything right about the house. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 3 I 

She is continually reading, and has no 
thoughts except for her books." 

But these books were cultivating her mind 
and fitting her for the position she was to 
occupy in after life. Hers was not the mere 
desire to be considered a great actress ; " she 
had none of that girlish vanity which would 
sacrifice art at the shrine of folly." Even at 
this age she saw many crudities in the per- 
formances at the theatres around her, and 
she yearned for the time to come when she 
could be able to place before the people of 
her country plays that would be instructive, 
and in which the character would appear 
true to life. 

To the troubled spirit of the girl the 
theatre seemed like a heaven and the people 
on the stage like gods, worthy to be wor- 
shipped with veneration. Up to this time 
she had never witnessed the performances 
of any of Shakespeare's plays, and when it 
fell to her good fortune to see Hamlet, the 
whole color of her life was changed, Fritz 



32 HELENA MODJESKA, 

rient, nephew of the great Emile Dev- 
rient, rendered the lines of tlie melancholy 
prince. He was well suited for the part, as 
his face naturally wore a serious expression, 
and was somewhat womanish in its outlines. 
His build was medium stout ; his hair long 
and fair, and in fact his whole make was all 
that could be desired, being a true portraiture 
of the Shakespearean character. Devrient 
had great talent, and had he not been so care- 
less he might have obtained as illustrious a 
position as his great uncle. Helena now 
became enthusiastic over the works of the 
English bard. She placed her Schiller and 
Goethe aside, procured an old Polish trans- 
lation of Shakespeare from her brother's 
library, read the play of Hamlet, and then 
copied it carefully so that she might better 
appreciate the lines and also commit them 
to memory. As she had clone previously 
with her beloved author, Schiller, she saved 
her money, bought a bust of her new idol, and 
sat up at night studying his plays until 



HELENA MODJESKA. 33 

near daylight. Even then she would be 
loth to lay the volume aside for a few hours' 
rest. 

Madame Modjeska has always been a firm 
believer in dreams, not from any superstition, 
but she has had so many curious and indefin- 
able warnings in her life-time of events that 
happened, that she cannot help but believe 
in their being harbingers of good and evil. 
Soon after she witnessed Devrient's per- 
formance, she had a vivid dream, in which 
she thought that she was climbing a high 
tower. Above she saw beckoning to her the 
man whom she adored secretly, because he 
was the greatest actor in Poland. It seemed 
that she experienced many difficulties in 
reaching him, but when she stood by his 
side, she exclaimed triumphantly : 

"Why! it is quite easy — I will go on 
higher." 

She then turned and left him far behind. 
In after years, when she had gone on the 
stage, she met this actor and related to him 
3 



34 HELENA MODJESKA. 

her dream. He listened attentively to what 
she was saying - , and then answered : 

" It is very likely that you will come up 
to me, and then you will leave me far be- 
hind." 

" No," she said, " that is impossible ; I can 
never hope to be as great as you." 

And still this prophesy came true : she 
reached the level of her hero, and became 
greater and more beloved by her country- 
men, than any actor or actress that Poland 
has known. 

The great, in youth, always have many sad 
trials to contend with, and every one seems 
to have a desire to throw obstacles in their 
road. Notwithstandine the derision of Hele- 
na's brothers and the constant admonition of 
her mother, who assured her that she was 
constitutionally unfit for the life of an actress, 
and that the excitement would kill her, she 
persisted in her studies in secret, recited to 
imaginary audiences, and declared her deter- 
mination to become a (ra^dioinc. She 



HELENA MODJESKA. 35 

used every devise to get upon the stage. 
Her brother, Felix Benda, who was gaining 
considerable notoriety, she thought ought to 
help her. Helena persisted in her appeals 
to him, and finally she became so importu- 
nate, that he yielded to her entreaties, and 
agreed to take her to see an actress of great 
experience, and get her opinion in regard 
to her talent. Helena went full of hope 
and fear. She felt as if she was going be- 
fore a great judge to be tried for some crime 
of which she was innocent, and she trembled 
in anticipation of what the verdict might be. 
She found the actress busy embroidering, 
and thinking more of her work than of the 
young girl before her. The first opinion she 
expressed was : 

"To begin with, you are too young." 

" But," said Helena, " I shall grow older." 

"True," answered the other, with a smile 

on her face, "but you do not know what a 

difficult profession it is, which you desire to 

embrace. It is impossible to get on without 



36 HELENA MODJESKA. 

great talent Do you feel that you have 
talent ?" 

This question was a staggering one. For 
some minutes Helena was silent, but she had 
the courage of her convictions, and she 
answered in a firm and decisive manner: 

" Yes, I do." 

" Indeed !" was the sarcastic reply. M If 
you are brave enough to think that you 
have talent, show it to me. Let me hear you 
recite something-." 

Helena called up all her courage in a ro- 
mantic impassioned poem, full of sentiment 
and patriotism. When she had finished, her 
auditor remained silent, and bent attentively 
over her work. The silence became painful, 
and Helena coughed slightly, to indicate that 
she was still present. The actress looked up. 

" Ah, well," she said, " I don't think you 
will do for the drama. Have you any voice 
for singing ? You have ? Then sing me 
something"." 

This actress had made her success in 



HELENA MODJESKA. 37 

character parts, and Helena thought that she 
would please her by singing one of her songs. 
She sang in a low voice, and began to 
imitate the acting of the woman before her, 
and the result was a sort of caricature. This 
displeased the actress somewhat, and she 
interrupted the singing. 

" I think you will be a comedy actress. 
Come again next week, and I will see what I 
can do for you." 

Helena went home feeling that she had 
made some headway, and waited anxiously 
for the day to come, when she was to see 
the actress again. At last the day arrived, 
and she went to see her severe critic. She 
was given a piece to. learn, about a girl who 
has never seen a man, and when she sees 
one at last, takes him for a bird. The absurd- 
ity of the piece made her laugh so, that she 
could not deliver her lines with any earnest- 
ness, and this made the actress very angry. 

" Oh," she said, " if you are not serious, I 
can do nothing for you." 



38 HELENA MODJESKA. 

The result was that Helena went home 
depressed and discouraged. She was about 
to give up all idea of ever being anything, 
when an event occurred, which might have 
Bfiven another direction to her artistic tastes. 
While visiting at the house of a friend one 
afternoon, she met Mirecki, an eminent Polish 
composer, who was the director of the Musi- 
cal Institution at Cracow. He was teaching 
his pupil a difficult passage, which she found 
it impossible to accomplish. He left the 
room discouraged, and when he was gone, 
Helena stepped to the piano, and sang the 
passage correctly, in a full and clear voice. 
Mirecki heard her across the street, and ran 
back into the house, demanding: 

" Who was that singing ?" 

When Mirecki found out who it was, he 
was very enthusiastic, and he proposed to 
Madame Opid that she should allow him to 
undertake 1 [elena's musical education. Three 
months after this he died, and Helena went 
back to her housekeeping and her dreams. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 39 

From childhood up she had been given to 
understand that she was to become the wife 
of her guardian, an old friend of the family, 
and a man very much older than herself. 
When she became seventeen she consented 
to take the name which she has since made 
famous. The original spelling of the name is 
Modezejewska, and after Helena went upon 
the American stage, she abbreviated it. Her 
husband was in the employ of the Govern- 
ment at Cracow, but soon after his marriage 
he lost his position, and Madame Modjeska 
was brought face to face with greater sorrows 
than she had ever experienced before. She 
lived in the same house with her mother, and 
found much in the household affairs to 
occupy her thoughts and keep them from 
dwelling on her troubles. 



CHAPTER III. 

'Ah ! who* can tell how hard it is to climb 

The steps where fame's proud temple shines afar ; 
Ah ! who can tell how many a soul sublime, 
Has felt the influence of malignant star, 
And waged with fortune an eternal war !" 

—Btatlie. 




ADAME MODJESKA now com- 
menced the study of German, under 
an actor named Axtman. Her 
husband saw that she had talent, and was 
anxious for her to go upon the German 
Stage, because he thought there was no scope 
for her in Poland. Axtman taught his pupil 
two parts, and he found her very diligent, 
and determined to learn. At times, when 
sh<- saw difficulties staring her in the face, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 4 1 

she would stamp her foot excitedly, and ex- 
claim : 

" I will be celebrated — I will be cele- 
brated !" 

Axtman, who had seen a great deal of 
poverty, and who was familiar with an actor's 
precarious existence, would look long and 
earnestly at the ambitious girl, and then an- 
swer, with a sigh : 

"Ah ! that is not so easy — that is not so 
easy !" 

He took great pride in his pupil, and 
worked hard to develope her talents. Un- 
fortunately for Madame Modjeska, her kind 
tutor was called away from Cracow to fill an 
engagement, and she never saw him after- 
wards. When Axtman left she laid her books 
aside, and once more gave up all hope of 
ever going on the stage. 

In March, 1862, Madame Modjeska gave 
birth to her first and only surviving child, 
Rudolph Modjeska. Three months after- 
wards, she and her husband left Cracow, and 



42 HELENA MODJESKA. 

took up their residence at a small provincial 
town named Bochnia. 

Shortly after their arrival at Bochnia, an 
amateur theatrical company was organized 
for the purpose of giving performances for 
the benefit of the poor. At the first night's 
performance there were three pieces put on, 
the first of which was " Le Camdia Blanc," 
with Madame Modjeska as the countess. In 
the next she assumed the character of an 
Italian peasant, and in the third she played 
the part of a thievish maid-servant with such 
brilliancy that she was loudly applauded by 
every one present. The first evening's per- 
formance was an immense success, and every 
one went away surprised and delighted at 
the young actress. 

The second performance was largely atten- 
ded, and the crowd was so great at the third, 
that the hall was not large enough to hold it. 
Madame Modjeska was the talk of the town, 
and every one was advising her to continue 
the performances and go on the stage. After 



HELENA MODJESKA. 43 

considerable trouble Madame Modjeska's 
husband procured a license, organized a com- 
pany and constituted himself manager. The 
company was made up of Madame Modjeska, 
her sister, a semi-professional actor, his 
mother and sister, an amateur actor, and a 
prompter. They were to work the company 
on shares and travel through the principal 
towns. They first engaged a theatre for 
three months at a small town twelve miles 
from Bochnia. They travelled in a cart, and 
created quite a sensation among the peas- 
antry. They found that at their new home 
they would be compelled to practice the 
utmost economy to make both ends meet. 
They all lived at one house, and at times 
they had to devise some very curious means 
to find costumes, owing to the fact that their 
wardrobe was very scanty. But notwith- 
standing the many privations of this sort of 
Bohemian life, Madame Modjeska was happy; 
she had at last been able to carry out her pet 
plan and go upon the stage. 



44 HELENA IfODJESKA. 

Many amusing and laughable incidents 
happened to this little band of players during 
the earlier days of their organization. 

The engagement at Sonez was a success- 
ful one, and at the end of three months the 
com pan)- numbered twenty-one, and was 
fairly supplied with scenery and costumes. 

The troupe was thoroughly organized and 
they started out on a trip through the pro- 
vincial towns, notwithstanding the unpromis- 
ing outlook and unsettled condition of the 
people, who were greatly excited over the 
cruelty of the Russian government. Their 
performances were interrupted night after 
night by some terrible account of the crimes 
committed in Warsaw, and one could hardly 
walk along the streets wthout being a wit- 
ness to some outrage. The whole country 
was in a state of mourning. The company 
grew larger and larger and met with success 
wherever they went. They engaged a lead- 
ing lady to do the tragic business, and 
although Madame Modjeska aspired to such 



HELENA MODJESKA. 45 

parts herself, she found her voice was not 
strong enough, and was sensible enough to 
refrain from playing anything except light 
comedy. She sang and danced exquisitely, 
and was a great, favorite with the audience, 
as well as being the life and soul of the com- 
pany. All of her time off the stage was 
taken up with the study of tragical parts, and 
the' developement of the lower tones of her 
voice. She persisted patiently in her work 
until she had full command over a naturally 
weak instrument, which had a tendency to 
become shrill and harsh. 

While they were travelling from place to 
place Madame Modjeska gave birth to 
another child, a girl, that only lived two 
years. She was very ill, owing to her hav- 
ing overtaxed her strength, and she was not 
expected to live. As soon as she began to 
grow stronger, she would insist upon going 
down to the theatre and playing her part, 
and the result was that she fainted after every 
performance. Her husband desired her to 



46 HELENA MODJESKA. 

remain at home, but she saw that her non- 
appearance at the theatre would result in 
small audiences, and kept up the strain, 
knowing all the time that she was ruining 
her health. The stage was her home, and 
she was not happy unless she was working in 
the glare of the footlights and listening to the 
applause of the audiences. Madame Mod- 
jeska had her mother with her now, and she 
gave her the charge of her son, who had 
grown to be a bright and interesting child. 
The company had been on the road a year 
when one day Madame Modjeska received a 
visit from a leading manager at Lemberg, 
who made her a very nattering offer, which she 
accepted. Lemberg was a University town, 
and the audiences were principally made up 
of students, who were very critical and easily 
provoked at bad acting. Here it was that 
Madame Modjeska considers that she learned 
some of the most valuable lessons. A very 
curious mode of criticism was indulged in by 
the frequenters of the gallery. Each person 



HELENA MODJESKA. 47 

was given, on entering, a large metal ticket, 
on one side of which was pasted a blank 
piece of paper. On this blank, criticisms of 
the acting was written, and the check was 
given up on going out. In the morning the 
members of the company would congregate 
in the office and read what their censors had 
written. The morning after Madame Mod- 
jeska's debut in operetta she found written 
on one of the tickets this warning : 

" Will Madame Modjeska please not to 
sing, or if she will sing, not to sing so out of 
tune as she did to-night ; because, if she does, 
next time we shall hiss." 

On another occasion she found a note 
which ran : 

" Please, Madame Modjeska, will you 
kindly take the trouble to pronounce well the 
ends of your sentences ; as you speak them 
the effect is as if we were deaf, and I am 
sure we are not." 

These suggestions were taken in good 
part and she tried to remedy the defect by 



48 HELENA MODJESKA. 

following out the advice of her gallery critics. 
They noticed this and were pleased, and 
where other actors and actresses had incurred 
their disfavor, by disregarding their criticisms, 
Madame Modjeska became their favorite and 
was always received with applause. This 
created a great deal of jealousy among the 
other members of the company, and Madame 
Modjeska's life was by no means a happy 
one. Then again, the manager had prom- 
ised to give her leading roles when she made 
her contract, but after she had been with him 
some time, he" seemed to forget all about his 
promises, and kept her in parts for which she 
was entirely unsuited. Finally, she found 
that there was no happiness for her in such 
an existence, and so she and her husband 
concluded to leave the theatre, organize 
another company and go back to the prov- 
inces. 

The new company was made up of Mad- 
ame Modjeska and her husband, who became 
the manager; her sister and her husband; 



HELENA MODJESKA. 49 

Felix Benda, Josef Benda, Rapacki, Hennig, 
and a number of others. When they started 
out they were compelled to resort to every 
kind of expedient to obtain properties and 
costumes, as they had very little capital 
except their talents. By degrees their con- 
dition became very much improved, and they 
obtained an excellent reputation wherever 
they performed. A number of the members 
of this troupe in after years occupied leading 
positions on the Polish stage, and became 
known as the greatest actors that Poland has 
ever known. 

Getting tired of this strolling Bohemian 
existence, Madame Modjeska and her hus- 
band, in 1863, leased a theatre at Czerniowce, 
the capital of Bukowina, with the determina- 
tion of settling in a quiet home of their own. 
It was here that she made her first appear- 
ance in tragedy, playing in " Marie Stuart," 
and creating a favorable impression among 
the German critics who were acting as cor- 
respondents at Czerniowce at that time. 
4 



SO HI. UNA M<)I»JI.<KA. 

This year was a year of terror to the in- 
habitants of Poland. The political move- 
ment which had been growing for two years, 

culminated in an insurrection, and there was 
enacted once more in the streets of Warsaw 
a fearful drama of carnage and bloodshed. 
All the towns were overrun with insurgents, 
and the theatres were naturally packed with 
the patriots, who came to listen to the inspir- 
ing words of the patriotic Polish authors. 
On such occasions were produced the come- 
dies by Fredro, the Molicre of Polish litera- 
ture and the dramas by Slowacki, who pat- 
terned after Shakespeare in his style. The 
actors were enthusiastic, and would sing 
patriotic songs for the purpose of encourag- 
ing the young soldiers who were about to 
lay down their lives for their country. 

In 1865 Madame Modjeska's husband 
died, and she, accompanied by her mother 
and brothers, left Czerniowce for her old 
home in Cracow. Felix Benda succeeded in 
procuring an engagement at the theatre, and 



i 



HELENA MODJESKA. 51 

the family went to live with the youngest 
brother, who had married a very estimable 
lady. 

After Madame Modjeska had regained 
her health, she accepted an offer and went to 
perform at the theatre where her brother 
was playing. This theatre had entered up- 
on a new lease of life, and was patronized by 
the Austrian Emperor, who helped the man- 
agement by liberal donations. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Ah, friends, the ideal Bohemia 

Is close to Utopia, I fear ; 

You cannot find people to deem you 

As good as you want to appear. 

The world is a vast panorama — 

But best of spectators ne'er hints, 

That to pen and to brush and to drama, 

They owe its best tints." — Geo. H. Jcssop. 




T was the aim of the friends of the 
Cracow theatre to make its stage 
the equal, if not the superior, of that 
of Warsaw. No pains nor expense were 
spared to accomplish this end. At Warsaw 
the Russian authorities had placed a kind of 
censorship over the theatre, and the produc- 
tion of plays was limited to those that had 
no bearing- upon Russian politics. This 



HELENA MODJESKA. 53 

created a great deal of dissatisfaction, not 
only with the management but with the peo- 
ple in general. The Cracow stage was free 
from this petty tyranny and was thus able to 
bring out the best of the productions of the 
leading Polish playwrights. Count Skor- 
upka was given the management, and he 
selected for his assistants M. Stanislas 
Kozmian and M. Jasinski, who had been the 
stage managers of the Warsaw stage for a 
number of years. 

When Madame Modjeska went to M. 
Jasinski to procure her engagement, he was 
pleased with her style, notwithstanding the 
fact that she was deficient in many points. 
He saw that she was energetic and ambi- 
tious, and that by careful study she could 
soon make up what she lacked. The part 
of " Sara," in Szymanowski's play of " Salo- 
man," was selected for her debut. The 
night that she made her appearance, every 
one was astonished with the force which 
she put in her acting, and even Jasinski, who 



54 HELENA MODJESKA. 

was known to be a harsh master, was lost in 
amazement, and he complimented her for 
the rapidity with which she had been able 
to grasp his method. 

When she came behind the wings after the 
first act, Jasinski took her by the hand and 
said : 

"It is well done — very well, my child ! 
There are only a few words you must deliver 
differently, and then you will be perfect ! 
Now you will play tragedy. But you must 
also agree to play comedy, because we have 
very few leading ladies." 

It was Madame Modjeska's desire to make 
her debut in the part of a singing page, but 
this was prevented by the management, who 
saw that she would do better in tragedy. 
She imagined that she was not yet able to 
produce those great effects, which make 
tragedy soul-stirring and inspiring. It was 
not long after this that Jasinski left the thea- 
tre and she was left alone to work out her 
own characters. She studied with a will, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 55 

and was at last able to approach what she 
considered an ideal standard of acting, and 
to cope with parts which she had thought 
she would be unable to produce. Her 
first important character was that of the 
Princess " Eboli," in " Don Carlos." In this 
she made a hit and delighted the manage- 
ment as well as her numerous friends and 
admirers. She next took up the study of 
Shakespeare, and created a sensation as 
" Ophelia." She played in the " Merchant 
of Venice," " Much Ado about Nothing," 
and Victor Hugo's " Le Roi S' Amuse." 

Madame Modjeska was an enthusiastic 
advocate of historical accuracy, and from girl- 
hood she had cherished the desire that if 
ever she became great on the stage of her 
country, she would aim to have the plays put 
on as the authors had intended. In her 
earlier days, the actors had no conception of 
what the costumes or scenery should be, and 
if they had, they were afraid to assert their 
opinions, lest they should run the risk of in- 



56 HELENA MODJESKA. 

curring the disfavor of the management, 
which was autocratic, as well as dictatorial. 
Madame Modjeska wanted to change this ab- 
surd state of affairs, and now that she had 
become popular, she set about carrying out 
her long thought of plans. She met with 
opposition on every side, and was compelled 
to submit to the slurs and sarcastic remarks 
of a large number of her companions, who 
considered her plans foolish and eccentric, 
and not worthy of consideration. But she 
had a number of friends at the theatre who 
set about to help her in carrying out her de- 
signs. M. Rapacki, M. Ladnowski and her 
brother Felix Benda, formed a coterie to con- 
sult with professors in regard to costumes 
and to study the different points of architect- 
ure and art. The result was that they were 
at last able to produce the Shakesperean 
plays with some show of correctness. 

The experiment was a success, and met 
with the hearty approval of the public. 
Thus they at last received their reward for 



HELENA MODJESKA. 57 

their unremitting toil in behalf of improve- 
ment. This was the beginning of a new era 
in the history of the drama in Poland, and it 
was all due to Madame Modjeska's energy 
and indomitable will that this important 
change was brought about. She carefully 
considered every trivial detail of enunciation, 
gesture, pose and costume, until every char- 
acter in a play became true to life, and stood 
out before the spectators like a magnificent 
painting. 

The Warsaw papers noticed her acting and 
published long critical articles on the changes 
which she had been instrumental in bringing 
about. All her spare time she devoted to 
the study of literature, and she spent hours 
at the University library, in reading works 
upon the history of the drama. She met a 
kind friend in the librarian, Dr. Charles Es- 
treicher, a member of the Academy, who 
helped her in making selections, as well as 
giving her advice. 

The season ended in June, 1866, The 



58 HELENA MODJESKA. 

company was sent from the theatre at Cra- 
cow to Poscn, the capital of Prussian Poland. 
Madame Modjeska's mother accompanied her 
on this trip, and was able to witness again 
her daughter's unprecedented success. In 
this company there was no under-studying 
of parts, and if any one was taken sick, the 
play was either postponed, or some one 
read the part. Shortly after the arrival of 
the company at Posen, one of the actresses 
fell ill, and the management was about to 
postpone the performance, when Madame 
Modjeska volunteered to study the part and 
play that evening. Every one considered 
that it would be impossible for her to memo- 
rize the lines, as she only had two hours to 
study in. She accomplished her task, and 
was thus able to prevent a catastrophe, for 
the audience was one that would not put up 
with a change in the performance. 

That evening, while on the stage, she saw 
in one of the boxes a gentleman, who gazed 
at her intently, and who seemed to be great- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 59 

ly interested in her acting. She made in- 
quiries among the people of the stage, and 
was informed that his name was M. Chla- 
powski. When she retired to her green- 
room, M. Chlapowski sent in his card, and 
was granted an interview. Thus was com- 
menced a friendship which ripened into love, 
and finally culminated in marriage. 



CHAPTER V. 



u Who is this ? and what is here ? 

And in the lighted palace near, 

Died the sound of royal cheer ; 

And they crossed themselves with fear, 

All the knights of Camelot. 

But Lancelot mused a little space ; 
He said : She has a lovely fice ; 
God in his mercy lend her grace ; 
The lady of Shallot— Tennyson." 

T is always interesting to know some- 
thing about those who are closely con- 
nected with the great in history or art 
The career of Count Charles Bozenta Chla- 
powski is so closely allied with everything that 
relates to the success of his wife, Madame 
Modjeska, that it is due to that gentleman that 
I should not pass by his name, without giving 




HELENA MODJESKA. 6 1 

to the reader some of the important events 
in his life. He is a descendant of an old and 
noble Polish family, which traces back its ped 
igree to a remote period, and which counts 
among its ancestors some of the most noted 
men in Polish and French history. The 
Chlapowskis have always been strongly at- 
tached to the Catholic Church, and are noted 
for their patriotism in defending the rights of 
their country. An uncle of Madame Modjes- 
ka's husband was a noted general in the ser- 
vice of the great Napoleon, and was a great 
favorite among all the officers, for his chiv- 
alry and undaunted bravery. At the age of 
twenty-three he became a colonel, and later 
on was distinguished by the award of a num- 
ber of other titles in the French service. 
After the campaign against Russia, he left 
the French army, as soon- as Napoleon had 
given up his idea of re-establishing Poland's i 
independence. In the years 1830-31, he 
was a leader in the Polish insurrection 
against Russia, notwithstanding the fact that 



62 HELENA MODJESKA. 

he was married to Princess Lowiez, who was 
the sister of the wife of Grand Duke Con- 
stantine, the brother of the Czar, and Vice- 
roy of Poland'. His patriotic impulses led 
him to side with the people, whose cause he 
considered a right and just one. 

He had command of the troops in Lithu- 
ania, and his campaign is considered one of 
the most brilliant in the history of Poland. 
For several years he was an exile, and suf- 
fered greatly from imprisonment. He be- 
came a member of the Russian House of 
Lords, as did also his brother, the father of 
the present Count. M. Charles Chlapowski, 
at the time he made the acquaintance of 
Madame Modjeska, was a dramatic critic and 
political writer on one of the largest papers 
in Poland, as well as an ardent politician. In 
the insurrection of 1863 he was attached to 
the personal staff of Dictator Langeiwiez, was 
wounded several times during the campaign, 
and suffered twenty months in a Prussian 
prison, being accused of high treason. When 



HELENA MODJESKA. 6$ 

he gained his liberty he went to Posen and 
took the position as dramatic critic on one of 
its papers. He was well posted in French 
and English literature, and after he became 
acquainted with Madame Modjeska, she 
allowed him to select books for her perusal. 
It was during this period that Madame Mod- 
jeska first read " Romeo and Juliet," and she 
became so fascinated with the characters, 
that she determined to study the role of 
Juliet and play it at her benefit. 

She communicated her desire to the man- 
ager of the theatre, and he laughed at her, 
claiming that she was unsuited for the role, 
and prophesying a total failure. He gave 
his consent, though, when he found that she 
expected no new costumes, and did not ask 
for new scenery. Her cousin agreed to take 
the part of Romeo ; and together they would 
go out into the country early in the morning, 
and amid the songs of birds, and the sweet 
perfume of flowers, they rehearsed under the 
shade of the trees, receiving inspiration from 



64 HELENA MODJESKA. 

all the surrounding beauties of nature. Her 
friend, M. Charles Chlapowski, rendered her 
much valuable assistance, and when the day 
came for her benefit he was in a box anx- 
iously awaiting the curtain to rise. He had 
faith in her abilities and knew that the play 
would be a success. 

It was with deep emotion that she por- 
trayed the character of Juliet. She rendered 
the lines with such mystic force and decision, 
that the simplicity and loveliness of the part 
stood out so prominently that the spectators 
were not aware at first of its complexity, 
depth and variety. There was in it an in- 
tensity of passion, a singleness of purpose, 
an entireness, a completeness of effect, which 
held every one spell-bound. "To attempt 
to analyze the impression thus conveyed at 
once to soul and sense, is as if, while hang- 
ing over a full-blown rose, and revelling in 
its intoxicating perfume, we should pull it 
asunder, leaflet by leaflet, the better to dis- 
play its bloom and fragrance." 



HELENA MODJESKA. 65 

Never was Madame Modjeska more in- 
spired than upon this occasion ; it seemed to 
her as if she was truly Juliet, and that the 
words she was rendering, were the expres- 
sions of the passion that was pent-up within 
her breast. From this time forth Juliet 
became her favorite role, and her ambition 
was to make the part a portion of her life, 
and to act it as it had never been acted 
before. The audience went away well 
pleased, and, notwithstanding the prophesy 
of the manager, the play was a success. 

After her benefit Madame Modjeska deter- 
mined to take a vacation, and rest from her 
arduous labors. She and her mother went 
to Paris, and there she was delighted with 
the acting of Madame Favart, Mademoiselle 
Delaporte, Bressant and Got. She visited 
the Theatre Francais, Vaudeville, Odeon, 
Gymnase, and the two Operas, and learned 
a great deal about dramatic art, that hereto- 
fore she had not the least conception of. 
She saw that there was nothing constrained 
5 



66 HELENA MODJESKA. 

about the French artists, and that they 
aimed at simplicity and naturalness. She 
returned to Cracow greatly improved in 
health, and set to work to remedy the faults, 
which she now saw in her style. 

About this time the attention of Dumas 
fils, was attracted to Madame Modjeska, by 
the appearance in L Artiste of a portrait of 
her, accompanied by a lengthy criticism on 
her acting. He wrote her a letter inviting 
her to come to Paris, and offering her an 
engagement to play in " La Dame aux 
Camelias." The offer was a tempting one ; 
but after a great deal of thought and consid- 
eration, she refused it on account of the ex- 
pense she would be under in buying a ward- 
robe, and her being compelled to break up 
her home, which was a pleasant and happy 
one. 

In 1868 she received an excellent offer 
from the stage manager at Warsaw, to go as 
leading lady at the Imperial theatres. She 
accepted the offer after she returned from a 



HELENA MODJESKA. 6 J 

camping excursion in the Carpathian Moun- 
tains with some of her friends, and com- 
menced to make preparations for her journey. 
Three weeks after the signing of her con- 

* tract, she was married, and she and her 
husband started for Warsaw. 

This marriage made her a member of the 
Polish aristocracy, a position which very few 
actresses had ever attained. She was 
received by her husband's relatives, who 
were attracted to her by her simplicity of 
manners, her talents and great genius. She 
soon became a leader in Polish society, and 
her salon was crowded with those noted in 
literature, politics and art. Although she 
possessed the title of Countess Chlapowski, 
she preferred to be called by her nom de 
theatre, a name which she had made famous 

'from one end of her country to the other. 

It is singular how in many instances 
Madame Modjeska's career corresponds with 
that of George Sand's great" heroine, Con- 
suelo. Like her, an angel of inspiration 



68 HELENA MODJESKA. 

seemed to watch over everything that Ma- 
dame Modjeska did, and when failures stared 
her in the face, she seemed to be exalted to 
the highest pitch, transported as it were to a 
loftier sphere, and acted with such energy 
and passion, that her audiences, as well as 
herself, were astonished at her capacity. 



CHAPTER VI. 




"Trifles light as air 
Are to the jealous, confirmation strong 
As proofs of Holy writ. " — Shakespeare. 

T the Warsaw theatre there was a 
coterie of actors and actresses, who 
were very jealous of any one who 
pretended to assume any of the parts which 
they had made a specialty of; and the life of 
a debutant was made a burden by their 
avowed enmity. It was impossible for the 
manager to attempt to control their actions, 
for nearly every one had some influential 
person behind him. 

When Madame Modjeska came to Warsaw 
she was looked upon with suspicion, and this 
clique set to work to make her debut a fail- 



JO HELENA MODJESKA. 

ure. The manager desired her to appear as 
Ophelia in Hamlet, but when he made the 
proposition to the company, he was met with 
objections on every side ; some claiming that 
they were unprepared to play in tragedy, 
while others said that they had no wardrobe. 
They finally agreed to act in a burlesque, be- 
cause they imagined that Madame Modjeska 
would not be able to cope with the part. At 
the rehearsal she acted so well that every 
one was astonished. This would never do. 
The play must not be permitted to be put 
on. They must find some plan to break up 
the idea of allowing her to appear in bur- 
lesque. 

One of the leading actors was taken sick, 
and this had to be given up. The manage- 
ment was puzzled what to do, and so pro- 
posed that she should take a part in a play 
of Dumas fils. The part was an excellent 
one, and she studied with a will to make it 
realistic. At this point one of the ladies fell 
ill, and this had to be abandoned. Madame 



HELENA MODJESKA. 7 1 

Modjeska was now aware of the fact that she 
was surrounded by enemies, and she hardly 
knew what to do. One of the actors who 
was in the clique, and who was a friend of 
hers, came and told her that they thought 
that she was not capable of assuming any 
great tragical role, at the same time advising 
her that if they proposed "Adrienne Lecou- 
vreur," to agree to their proposition, and at 
rehearsal to appear as if she were embar- 
rassed. She did as he suggested, and the 
result was that the clique was highly de- 
lighted, and was certain that she would 
fail. 

At last the eventful night arrived, and the 
curtain went up amid a round of deafening 
applause. What was the surprise of the 
clique, when, instead of stammering and be- 
coming confused, she uttered her lines with 
precision and was perfectly composed. In 
the scene in the Princess' drawing-room, she 
acted with such vigor, that her enemies were 
forced to acknowledge that she had out- 



72 HELENA MODJESKA. 

witted them ; and she could hear them whis- 
pering in the wings : 

" She has voice ! She has voice ! She is 
strong enough, after all !" As the play pro- 
gressed, the audience became enthusiastic, 
and after the rendering of Lafontaine's fable 
in the second act, she was given a perfect 
ovation. She had made a hit. She was the 
superior of any around her, and her enemies 
were forced to admit her as a member of the 
clique. After the first night's performance 
her success was unprecedented, and she 
became the rage of Warsaw. In the salons, 
on the street corners, and in the family circle, 
her name was the sole topic of conversation, 
and she was pronounced the greatest actress 
that Poland had ever known. The manage- 
ment offered her a permanent engagement 
and wanted her to sign a contract for life ; 
and after some consideration she accepted 
the terms, signing with certain provisions. 
Her engagement was not to commence until 
a year after her debut, so she returned to 



HELENA MODJESKA. *]$ 

the Cracow theatre to finish her contract with 
the manager there. He was so angry at her 
for having signed with a rival manager, that 
after a few performances he refused to allow 
her to play any longer. 

Not having any other theatrical work on 
hand, she turned her attention to politics, and 
assisted her husband, M. Chlapowski, who 
was the manager-in-chief of a Cracow politi- 
cal journal. He was closely identified with 
the movements of his party, and was looked 
upon by the government as a person who 
was working to overthrow the institutions, 
and was accused of inciting the people to 
rebel. 

Madame Modjeska gathered about her all 
the leading men and women in Cracow, and 
soon had a literary and political salon that 
could not be surpassed in the whole of Po- 
land. She became a shrewd diplomatist, and 
she had such an excellent memory that at 
times she acted in the capacity of reporter for 
her husband's paper. Her receptions were 



74 HELENA MODJESKA. 

largely attended, not only by the politicians 
and literati of her own country, but by dis- 
tinguished visitors from all parts of the world. 
Here she was an acknowledged queen ; and 
when a new political party was formed, one 
reason for choosing M. Chlapowski as the 
editor of its paper was because his wife's 
salon was such a power, and there they could 
meet and concoct their plans without fear of 
being discovered. For the time being, she 
forgot her art and plunged headlong into the 
whirl and excitement of political life, and thus 
it was that she earned for herself the name 
of the Polish Jeanne d'Arc. Liebelt, the Pol- 
ish Ruskin, was a frequent visitor to her 
salon, and he wrote many flattering articles 
about her in the Warsaw papers. 

When the time came for the Warsaw 
engagement to commence, M. Chlapowski 
was compelled to decide between his political 
career and his wife's art. He saw that there 
were a number of men who were as able 
as himself to carry out the plans of his 



HELENA MODJESKA. 75 

party, and so he concluded to resign his 
editorial position, and devote his time to the 
advancement of his wife's career as an actress. 
He gave up writing for the press, and when 
they arrived at Warsaw he entered upon a 
business life. In Warsaw they were watched 
closely by the police, and it was often asserted 
that in her acting, Madame Modjeska was 
continually trying to work so upon the minds 
of the people that they would rise en masse 
and rebel against the government. This 
accusation was unjust, for she had no such 
intention, and was only working for the ele- 
vation of the drama on the Warsaw stage. 
She succeeded in putting on a number of 
Shakespeare's plays translated from the 
English version. 

At the head of the Imperial Theatre was 
M. Muchamow, a gentleman of great ex- 
perience in the management of theatrical 
matters. He was a warm personal friend of 
Madame Modjeska and he took a great in- 
terest in all the plays which she selected. 



j6 HELENA MODJESKA. 

His wife, Madame Kalerdgi, was a celebrated 
beauty, and was at one time greatly admired 
by Napoleon, who desired to make her his 
wife. Her salon was a celebrated resort of 
the leading musical and theatrical people, and 
she counted among her friends such men as 
Chopin, Liszt, Wagner, Alfred de Musset, 
Joachim, Tansig and the Rubensteins. Mad- 
ame Modjeska was a great favorite of hers 
and she exerted her influence in her behalf. 
When she applauded at the theatre an actor 
or actress' reputation was made. 
' All the time while Madame Modjeska was at 
Warsaw, she was continually disputing with 
the Russian Censor, who at times refused to 
allow her to produce the plays which she 
had selected, and which he claimed were 
seditious. She however often overcame his 
foolish objections and succeeded in carrying 
out her plans. Her repertoire was a large 
one, and at times she was so fatigued by 
hard study that she often fainted after the 
performances : and at last the strain became 



HELENA MODJESKA. 77 

so great that she was thrown on a bed of 
sickness, where she remained for six weeks. 
This made her so weak that it was impossible 
for her to appear for nearly six months. 
The public missed her greatly, and when at 
last she made her appearance she received a 
perfect ovation. The house was filled with 
the nobility, and after the performance she 
received the hearty congratulations of all the 
members of the company. 

While here, among the leading characters 
she assumed were those of Ophelia, Juliet, 
Desdemona, Queen Ann in " Richard III," 
Louisa Miller, Marie Stuart, the Princess 
Eboli of Schiller, Marion Delorme, the 
Thisbe of Victor Hugo, the Mazeppa of 
Slowacki, Beatrice in " Much Ado about 
Nothing," Donna Diana, a play translated 
from the Spanish ; and a number of other 
parts from the plays of Dumas, Sardou, 
Angier, Legouvi, and iVlfred de Musset. 

Those occupying prominent positions are 
always envied by those possessing not as 



78 HELENA MODJESKA. 

great talents, and this jealousy at times often 
leads to enmity. Madame Modjeska's posi- 
tion in literary and social circles was an 
envious one, and she was hated bitterly by a 
number of men and women at the theatre. 
This hatred at last found vent in certain 
malicious attacks through the columns of a 
few newspapers. 

This was very irritating to Madame Mod- 
jeska and it had an injurious effect upon her 
sensitive nature. About this time Madame 
Kalerdgi died, and soon afterwards Madame 
Modjeska was afflicted by the loss of her 
brother, Felix Benda. It is said that troubles 
never come singly, and this is so in Mad- 
ame Modjeska's case, for immediately after 
the death of Felix Benda, M. Chlapowski 
lost his brother, and while he was away at- 
tending to the settlement of his brother's 
estate, Madame Modjeska was taken seriously 
ill, and her physician ordered rest and a 
change of scene. When M. Chlapowski 
returned, he concluded to leave Warsaw and 



HELENA MODJESKA. 79 

take his wife on a sea voyage. He desired 
to go some place and buy a farm with the 
money that had been left him, and finally, 
after talking the matter over with a friend he 
concluded to go to California. Madame 
Modjeska, after considerable trouble, obtained 
a two years' leave of absence from the thea- 
tre. She felt very little regret at leaving, for 
she imagined that the people cared but little 
for her, because she had Been so illy treated 
during the latter days of her engagement. 
But when they found that they were about to 
lose her, and that she was going away to a 
foreign country, all their old enthusiasm was 
aroused, and they begged her to stay. On 
the evening of her farewell performance, after 
having been called innumerable times before 
the curtain, she found the streets from the 
theatre to her house crowded with her fellow- 
countrymen, who strewed flowers in her path, 
and when she left the city the same scene 
was enacted. The railway station was 
crowded, the cars were decorated with leaves 



So HELENA MODJESKA. 

and flowers, and with tears in their eyes the 
people cried : 

Niech zyge Modrzejewska I ("Viva Mod- 
jeska !") Pani Helena, wracaj do kraju ! 
(" Madame Helena, return to thy native 
land!") 

This was more than she could stand, and 
she burst into a flood of tears, and with a 
pang of regret she waved an adieu to the 
crowd. As she left the station she little 
dreamed that it would be a long while before 
she would see her country again, or have the 
pleasure of performing before an audience of 
her countrymen. She was going to a for- 
eign land, among strangers, and among a 
people whose language she could not speak 
or understand. The travellers went to Bre- 
men, and from thence took passage on a ves- 
sel to New York. To the tired and worn- 
out actress the sea-voyage was a great nov- 
elty, and the life around her infused new 
hopes within her breast. She commenced 
to regain ambition and long for some activity. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 8 1 

It was her intention to study English, and if 

she succeeded in mastering it to make her 

debut on the American stage. Something 

seemed to tell her that she would succeed, 

and we now see how well she fought the 

battle. Learning English only seven years 

ago, she rarely mispronounces a word, and 

she finds very few words but what she can 

master. 

6 



CHAPTER VII. 



" As some lone bird, without a mate, 
My weary heart is desolate : 
I look around, and cannot trace 
One friendly smile or welcome face : 
And e'en in crowds am still alone." 

— Byron. 

,. j^FTER a tedious sea- voyage the 
feV?rl weary travellers arrived in San 
Francisco, in September, 1876. As 
they entered the picturesque portals of the 
Golden Gate, and glided swiftly past the 
Cliff House and Seal Rocks into the bay, 
theii eyes rested for the first time upon the 
barren sand-hills of the " Paris of America." 
It was the dry season, and not a speck of 
verdure was to be seen. The sight was not 
one to raise the hopes of the wanderers, who 



HELENA MODJESKA. 83 

had pictured to themselves a land of beauty. 
They stopped at the Palace Hotel until they 
could buy a farm, where they could go and 
try the experiment of a ranchero's life. 
While in San Francisco, Madame Modjeska 
went to the California theatre to see Edwin 
Booth, who was then filling a successful en- 
gagement. She was greatly pleased with 
his style, and a few days afterwards she 
received a visit from him and Mr. John Mc- 
Cullough, who was then the manager of the 
theatre. Mr. McCullough proposed that 
Madame Modjeska should play Ophelia in 
Polish, with Mr. Booth. They talked the 
matter over, but finally gave up the idea. 
The farm was at last procured, and Madame 
Modjeska and M. Chlapowski started out, 
full of expectation of making a fortune in the 
Golden State by farming and keeping bees. 
Of this part of her career a contributor in 
" Scribner's Monthly " writes : " After a few 
months of ranch* life Arcadia soon began to 
cloy. It is true that on the California farm 



84 HELENA MODJESKA. 

the mustangs fully came up to expectation, 
but in the long run even the success of rides 
on horseback will not atone for the fiasco of 
milkless kine and eggless poultry. Alas, 
theatricals on a rancho are worse than in 
private !" The dry season went against 
them. The crops failed, and instead of 
making the long expected fortune, the Gol- 
den Fleece was not found, and the two 
embryo farmers lost nearly all the money 
they had brought with them. Home-sick- 
ness came, with all its pangs, and the un- 
happy artiste yearned for the old life of ex- 
citement. " The stage is a candle that the 
actor-moth cannot escape. The actress 
who has seen an amphitheatre kindle with 
the excitement she herself has called forth 
and partly shares, sooner or later must re- 
turn to the boards. Now San Francisco was 
not Warsaw ; but it has a stage." 

Madame Modjeska determined to learn 
English, and in February, 1877, started for 
San Francisco, where she put herself under 



HELENA MODJESKA. 85 

the instruction of Miss Joanna Tukoloka, an 
American lady of Polish origin. 

She studied with a will, and at last, in 
June, was able to speak with some fluency, 
and recite portions of " Adrienne Lecou- 
vreur," and " Juliet," in English. She now 
thought herself able to appear before the 
public, and so made application for a position 
to Mr. Barton Hill, who was then managing 
the California Theatre in Mr. McCullough's 
absence. 

Mr. Hill had not heard of Madame Mod- 
jeska, and on her first interview with him, 
although he treated her very politely, he 
showed plainly by his actions that he did not 
regard her as an actress, but rather thought 
that she was a countess who was stage-struck, 
and desired to make her debut in a strange 
city where no one knew her, so that if she 
failed she would not suffer the mortification 
of the comments of her friends. 

He finally consented to hear her read, 
and she chose the last act of "Adrienne 



86 HELENA MODJESKA. 

Lecouvreur." Mr. Hill sat in his chair and 
listened attentively, expecting to see her fail. 
Before Madame Modjeska was half through 
the act, Mr. Hill saw that she was an actress 
of no mean ability. He became enthusiastic, 
and when she had finished, he said : " Mad- 
ame, your acting is the finest I have ever 
seen. We will give you a week." 

This was a pleasant surprise to the debu- 
tante, for she had only asked for a night, 
and had received, instead of a mere permis- 
sion to appear, a permanent engagement for 
a week. She left the theatre full of hope, 
and went immediately at work to study and 
make arrangements for her debut. 

A few nights before Madame Modjeska's 
first appearance, Mr. George H. Jessop, 
who was then acting as the dramatic critic 
of the " San Francisco Post," wrote the fol- 
lowing notice in his column : 

"Following 'M'lliss,' we are to have the 
debut on our boards of a distinguished Pol- 
ish artist, Madame Helena Modjeska. The 



HELENA MODJESKA. 8? 

lady has been studying English for some 
months back, and her reading is marked 
with a power and purity, which show that 
the praises lavished upon her by the critics 
have not been undeserved." 

I never shall forget the first night of Mad- 
ame Modjeska's engagement at the Califor- 
nia Theatre. The house was moderately 
filled with first-nighters, who wore upon 
their faces an expression which showed that 
they expected to be bored. Ever and anon 
before the curtain went up, some one would 
ask: "Who is this Madame Modjeska? I 
wonder if she amounts to much ?" and this was 
answered by the knowing ones with a smile. 

"Adrienne Lecouvreur" was the play, and 
the minute the curtain was rung up, the au- 
dience saw that instead of a mere debutante 
they were listening to an artist of exper- 
ience, who understood her lines and appre- 
ciated the part she was performing. 

The evening after her debut Mr. Jessop 
wrote the following criticism. 



88 HELENA iMODJESKA. 

11 In 'Adrienne Lecouvreur ' last evening, 
we saw Madame Modjeska move like a 
breath of fresh air through the stifling at- 
mosphere of a licentious court. We saw her 
by God-like genius raise a poor dramatiza- 
tion to the level of an artistic triumph. 
What cared we for poor curtains — she filled 
the stage while she was upon it ; or for weak 
dialogue, interpreted by such wonderful busi- 
ness? Nothing. She comes as the reigning 
artist of the day to recite in the salon of the 
Princess de Bouillon, her unknown rival. 
The two women know each other, but it is 
not until the heartless hypocrisy and cruelty 
of the Princess have tortured the very soul 
within her, that forced, under that torture, as 
it were to recite, she chooses that pas 
sage from ' Phedie,' which, as .it closes, cuts 
into the breast of the smooth sinner." 

Then he follows with a critical analyzation 
of each scene, and finally concludes by say- 
ing: 

" But what shall we say of that death 



HELENA MODJESKA. 89 

scene ? It is simply wonderful, tearful, grand. 
Like to -the painter, who, for the crucifixion, 
painted not a God in agony but a child in 
sleep, the pains of death are not obtruded, and 
the spirit- suffering o'ershadows mere physi- 
cal distress. When Maurice, Count de Saxe, 
comes with his love, in the dark hour of 
her agony, and his voice cannot call her 
back from delirium, we see the stage, as it 
were, through a mist. ' The sweet bells 
jangled out of tune/ play discordantly the 
song of the past. She is on the stage again, 
and her eye rests on the box wherein sits 
Maurice and her hateful rival. He is the 
life of her life, and in agony of appeal she 
cries out, ' Maurice ! Maurice !' as if the 
power of her love could draw him as the 
magnet draws the steel. And then, when 
the poisoned bouquet nas done its deadly 
work, in the hands of Modjeska, the noblest 
thing about poor Adrienne is her leaving of 
it. With quiet fondness her ringers rest on 
her lover's head, which she draws toward her 



90 HELENA MODJESKA. 

lap ; her eyes full of affectionate regard, born 
of a life-time of respect and love, rest for a 
moment on the old prompter, but immedi- 
ately after one is lifted to the world beyond 
the skies and the tragedy of life is ended." 

After that first night's performance, the 
theatre was packed every evening, and at 
the end of the week's engagement, arrange- 
ments were made so that Madame Modjeska 
could play another week, Rose Eytinge 
kindly consenting to allow her engagement 
to be delayed. 

Madame Modjeska now went on a tour 
through the California towns, and was well 
received wherever she played. Returning 
to San Francisco for another week, she 
played the " Dame aux Camdias," and this 
tended to finally establish her reputation 
with the critics and the public. 

At first Madame Modjeska was doubtful 
about making a hit, and when the curtain 
went down on the first act, and she heard 
a number of sharp whistles coming from 



HELENA MODJESKA. 9 1 

the gallery, her heart sank within her, 
for in Poland, when an actress is whis- 
tled at it is a death-blow to her reputation ; 
and if the whistle is very pronounced she 
generally leaves the stage forever. When 
she was assured that these whistles really 
meant applause, she was very much aston- 
ished and delighted. 

Mr. Henry Sargent now signed a contract 
with Madame Modjeska for a two years' en- 
gagement, and according to this agreement 
she was to play in any city which he might 
select. 

Madame Modjeska made her debut before 
a New York audience at the Fifth Avenue 
Theatre, on the evening of December 22, 
1877. The play was " Adrienne Lecou- 
vreur ;" but owing to some mismanagement 
it did not draw, and at the end of two weeks, 
it was withdrawn, and " Dame aux Came- 
lias," was put on in its place. 

The tide now turned, and where the 
audiences had been small during the time 



92 HELENA MODJESKA. 

that " Adrienne," was running, the house 
was now crowded nightly with enthusiastic 
admirers, who showed their appreciation by 
rounds of applause. 

After leaving New York, Madame Mod- 
jeska's tour through the United States was a 
great success at every place she played. 
She became a general favorite and was wel- 
comed by thousands. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



"Lives of great men all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time ; 

"Footprints, that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, shall take heart again." 

— Longfellow. 

T is pleasant indeed to receive the 
praise of the great, and to listen 
to their words of encouragement. 
While playing in Boston, Madame Modjeska 
received a visit from the poet Longfellow, 
who extended to her an invitation to dine 
with him. He was very enthusiastic about 
her acting, and spoke in high terms of her 



94 HELENA MODJESKA. 

style. At the dinner he talked pleasantly 
about the people of Poland, and of some 
Polish ladies whom he knew. After the 
dinner he read to her a poem written by 
Campbell upon Poland, and this worked so 
upon Madame Modjeska's patriotic feelings 
that she was moved to tears. During the 
conversation Mr. Longfellow never spoke of 
his own works except once, when Madame 
Modjeska said that she had thought some- 
thing about playing the " Spanish Student," 
when he asked : 

" Why don't you play it?" 

" It is very difficult," she replied. " I don't 
know if I am equal to the task." 

Longfellow laughed at this and said that 
if she would consent to play he would revise 
the play himself. 

After this first visit quite a friendship 
sprang up between the poet and Madame 
Modjeska. She often called on him, and at 
times sent him translations of the Polish 
poets to read. With these he was delighted, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 95 

not only on account of their beauty of con- 
struction, but for the patriotic sentiments 
that were to be found in every line. When 
Madame Modjeska left Boston, Longfellow 
continued to correspond with her, and if, at 
times, she was too busy to answer his letters 
promptly, he would look anxiously in the 
papers for news of her whereabouts. In 
April, 1 88 1, I was in Boston, and had the 
good fortune to have a letter of introduction 
to Mr. Longfellow. I called on the poet and 
found him busy at work in his library. He 
received me graciously and chatted pleas- 
antly for some time upon different literary 
topics, when the conversation changed to a 
talk about dramatic matters and the differ- 
ent theatrical people he had met. Happen- 
ing to glance at a picture hanging on the 
wall over his desk, I discovered that it was 
a portrait of Madame Modjeska as Juliet, 
and I said: 

" I see you have Madame Modjeska's 
picture." 



96 HELENA MODJESKA. 

" Yes," he answered, " I am a great ad- 
mirer of her acting, and I think that she is 
the greatest tragic actress on the stage to- 
day. I admire her unconventional treatment 
of the character of Juliet, and while listening 
to her rendition of the lines, a feeling of in- 
spiration seems to come over me." 

In Philadelphia Madame Modjeska was 
the guest of George W. Childs, and when 
she was at Hartford, Connecticut, she was 
entertained by Charles Dudley Warner. 
At Washington she made the acquaintance 
of Senators Blaine, Conkling, Schurz, Gen- 
eral Sherman, and a host of other distin- 
guished people. 

On Madame Modjeska's return to Boston, 
so great was the enthusiasm, that she was 
compelled to play at four matinees a week in 
order to satisfy the people. In Chicago the 
Owl Club honored her with a reception, and 
at several other of the large cities of the West, 
receptions were given her. 

The first tour through the United States 



HELENA MODJESKA. $J 

lasted about six months, and during that 
time Madame Modjeska, at Mr. Sargent's 
request, studied " East Lynne " and " Peg 
Woffington." These she produced at the 
commencement of her second season, but 
soon gave them up, because she found it 
impossible to identify herself with the char- 
acters. 

At the end of her first tour Madame Mod- 
jeska went to Paris to see the exhibition and 
to make arrangements for new costumes. 
Here she met Victor Hugo, whose writings 
she greatly admired. She and the great 
author had a long conversation together, and 
when she left he extended to her an invita- 
tion to make his house her home as often as 
she visited Paris. While in Paris, Madame 
Modjeska sat for her portrait, which Carolus 
Duran, was ordered to paint for Mr. Paris 
Haldeman, who presented it to the Philadel- 
phia National Gallery. 

Returning to America, Madame Modjeska 
commenced her second tour, and after this 
7 



Q^ HELENA MODJESKA. 

was ended she opened in New York at the 
Grand Opera House, in " East Lynne." The 
play was not a success, poor houses was the 
result, and the management was compelled 
to re-place it by " Camille." 

Madame Modjeska desired very much to 
play in England, and when her New York 
engagement was over, she and her manager 
made arrangements to go to London. 

Here Mr. Sargent found all dates filled. 
It was impossible to procure a theatre even 
for one night, and Madame Modjeska had to 
give up all hope of playing in London, until 
February, when Mr. Sargent promised to 
make arrangements for an engagement. 

Finding that there was nothing for her to 
do in London, she and M. Chlapowski 
concluded to re-visit their native land, 
for the purpose of taking part in the jubilee 
that was to be given at Cracow in honor of 
the great Polish poet, Josef Kraszewski. 
This fete was held in the beginning of Octo- 
ber, 1879. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 99 

Josef Kraszewski is one of the most prolific 
Polish authors of modern times, and his works 
are counted by hundreds. On his fiftieth 
birthday, his countrymen decided to give a 
great fete, in his honor at Cracow. This city 
was chosen on account of its being free from 
the jurisdiction of the Tzar, who had exiled 
Kraszewski on account of his patriotism, and 
naturally, if the people had held the anniver- 
sary in the Russian domains, the government 
would have interrupted the proceedings. 
Thousands of people flocked to Cracow, and 
after the ceremonies and the delivering of the 
oration to Kraszewski, the people made pub- 
licly their vows of brotherhood and gave utter- 
ance to their feelings against the cruelty of 
the Russian government. It was during this 
excitement that Madame Modjeska and M. 
Chlapowski arrived at Cracow, and they were 
enthusiastically received by their countrymen. 
The people insisted that they should share 
the honors of the fete. A play of Kraszew- 
ski's was produced and on this occasion 



IOO HELENA MODJESKA. 

Madame Modjeska made her first appearance 
in Poland after her long absence. It was 
a perfect ovation. , The people waved their 
handkerchiefs, flowers were strewn upon 
the stage and cries of " Welcome ! welcome, 
Modrzjewska !" resounded from all portions 
of the house. After this first appearance, 
the fete over, Madame Modjeska gave a 
series of performances at which she played 
a number of her old parts. She amazed 
her audiences by her great power, and she 
became a perfect lion in society. Invitations 
poured in on her from all the people of 
note. 

She next went to Lemberg, and there the 
enthusiasm was as great as it had been at 
Cracow. In December she went to Warsaw, 
where she was compelled to pay a fine of 
ten thousand roubles for failing to write to 
renew her leave of absence, when she was in 
America. She played ten nights at the 
Imperial Theatre for nothing, and these per- 
formances paid her fine. Then she was 



HELENA MODJESKA. IOI 

engaged for twenty nights more, for which 
she received a " star's " salary. 

She went to Posen, where she played a 
short engagement, and then, in February, she 
returned to London, where she expected to 
find Mr. Sargent. Madame Modjeska had 
written to Mr. Sargent several times, but he 
only answered one of her letters ; and fur- 
thermore he was not to be found when she 
arrived in London, neither had he kept his 
promise to procure for her an engagement. 

She determined to procure an engagement 
herself, and after considerable trouble she 
succeeded in making an arrangement with 
Mr. Wilson Barrett, manager of the Court 
Theatre, whereby he was to give her the 
house for a .few matinees and to share the 
profits with her. Mr., Mortimers adaptation 
of the ■" Dame aux Camelias," which he had 
entitled " Heartsease," was chosen for the 
first performance. 

On the first of May, 1880, Madame Mod- 
jeska made her debut before the London 



102 HELENA MODJESKA. 

public. At this performance the Prince and 
Princess of Wales were present, and they 
complimented her highly upon her success. 
For two weeks she played at these morning 
matinees, attracting large audiences, and 
then Mr. Barrett withdrew "The Old Love 
and the New,", which was running at night, 
and put on " Heartsease" with Madame 
Modjeska in the role of Constance. At the 
first performance at night, the house was 
crowded with celebrities, among them being 
Gustave Dore, Alma Tadima, Joachim, 
Madame Trebelli, and Md'lle Sara Bern- 
hardt. Of this first appearance Mr. Labou- 
chere writes in London Truth : 

" Never once does she raise her voice 
above the pitch of ordinary life, in not one of 
her gestures does she outstep nature ; in 
every act she is true to the character of the 
girl that she is representing, and yet she 
manages to idealize her. From the first she 
carried her audience with her, and each 
successive scene brought them more in sym- 



HELENA MODJESKA. IO3 

pathy with her. Never was the applause 
that greeted her after each act more spon- 
taneous and more thoroughly deserved. 
Even the fine people in the stalls forgot their 
nil admirari, and heartily joined in it, whilst, 
when at length she died in the arms of her 
lover, ladies forgot even their paint, and 
wiped genuine tears from their eyes. I am 
told that in other parts she- is better than in 
the one she chose for a debut. This seems 
to me to be almost impossible ; but what- 
ever she does play, I shall, setting aside every 
other occupation, go to see her, for acting 
such as hers is a treat that makes up for 
the many weary hours that one passes in 
theatres, hoping against hope, that some 
touch of genius may enliven the dead level 
of respectable mediocrity." 

It was during this engagement that she 
won the hearts of the London public the 
same as she had done previously in America. 
She made the acquaintance of Tennyson and 



104 HELENA MODJESKA. . 

Browning as well as several other noted 
English literary people. 

In September, she took a tour of the 
provinces, and then returned to London to 
rehearse " Marie Stuart." Several times she 
thought that she would have to give up the 
part. She had studied three different trans- 
lations, and it now seemed to her that it was 
impossible to memorize the lines. By dint 
of hard study she overcame all difficulties, 
and on the first night not a break occurred 
to mar the beauty of the play. " Marie 
Stuart" ran until Christmas, and then "Adri- 
enne Lecouvreur " was put on. This was fol- 
lowed by " Heartsease" and "Romeo and 
Juliet," the last named play running two 
months. 

After the run of " Romeo and Juliet," Ma- 
dame Modjeska was anxious to produce Mr. 
Wills' play of "Juana." Every one thought 
that this play would be a success. New 
scenery was bought, new costumes were or- 
dered, and great preparations were made for 



HELENA MODJESKA. I05 

its production. But, alas ! the piece was a 
failure. The public would not support it, and 
at the end of a week, the management was 
compelled to withdraw it, and put on "Adri- 
enne Lecouvreur. ,, " Frou-Frou," had been 
in preparation some time, and was soon put 
on, and with this piece the company was 
moved from the Court to the Princess' thea- 
tre. 

At the Princess', Madame Modjeska played 
a short time, and then took her benefit be- 
fore going on an excursion into Brittany, 
where she was to spend her vacation. On 
this occasion, the profession generously 
offered their services, and among those pre- 
sent, were Mr. Irving, Mr. Toole, Mr. and 
Mrs. Kendal, Mdlle. Bernhardt, Miss Ellen 
Terry, Mr. Barret, Mr. Hare, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Bancroft. 

After the holiday in Brittany, Madame 
Modjeska returned to London, and then 
started upon a tour through England, Scot- 



106 HELENA MODJESKA. 

land and Ireland. Everywhere she played to 
full houses, and was warmly received. 

The provincial tour over, she went again 
to Warsaw. During her stay here, she 
played a piece entitled " Nora, or, A Doll's 
House." It was written by Henrick Ibsen, 
a Scandinavian author. This piece Madame 
Modjeska has had translated into English, 
changing the title to " Thorn." 

After leaving Warsaw, Madame Modjeska 
went direct to London, where she appeared 
at the Hay market Theatre on April 25, 1882, 
in Clemens Scott's English version of M. 
Sardou's "Odette." This play was originally 
brought out at the Vaudeville Theatre, Paris, 
on November 17, 1881, and was performed 
there one hundred and thirty-eight times. 
It had a very successful run and would have 
been kept on longer had Madame Modjeska 
consented to prolong her engagement, but 
being in delicate health, and desiring to take 
a rest before sailing for America, she declined 
all offers. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 107 

After closing her engagement at the Hay- 
market, Madame Modjeska took up the study 
of the character of Rosalind, in " As you Like 
it." This she played with success during 
her American engagement of 1882, 




CHAPTER IX. 

" Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match, 
And on the wager lay two earthly women, 
And Portia one, there must be something else 
Pawned with the other ; for the poor rude world 
Hath not her fellow." — Shakespeare. 




HE return of Madame Modjeska to 
the American stage was made at 
the Globe Theatre, in Boston, on 
Monday evening, October 2, 1882, in the 
presence of a large audience, whose wel- 
come was cordial, and whose appreciation 
of a fine and well-sustained dramatic por- 
traiture was made evident throughout the 
performance. 

Madame Modjeska's earlier triumphs in the 
city at the old Boston Museum, several sea- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 109 

sons before, established the artiste in a pop- 
ularity which is rarely quickly gained in 
that community. The play on this occasion 
was "Adrienne Lecouvreur," and the scenes 
were given with an effect that she has never 
rivalled. " Adrienne Lecouvreur," was fol- 
lowed by " Frou-Frou," " Dame aux Came- 
lias," " Marie Stuart," " Romeo and Juliet," 
and " As You Like It." 

In "As You Like It," Madame Modjeska 
scored an emphatic success. This was pro- 
duced on October 19, and was the first time 
that she had played the character of Rosa- 
lind. The Boston Globe, speaks of this 
performance as follows : 

" If Rosalind is a prime favorite with the 
admirers of Shakespeare's heroines because 
of the charming attributes of her character — 
her loving impulses, frolicsome humor, gen- 
tle tenderness of feeling, and bright intelli- 
gence withal, it is likewise true that it is one 
of the most difficult of interpretation by the 
actress attempting it. Many have essayed 



IIO HELENA MODJESKA. 

it and many have failed. The number, in- 
deed, is most limited who have succeeded, the 
best known of whom to ancient and modern 
Boston are Anna Cora Mowatt and Adelaide 
Neilson, both gone from life save in the 
memory. The Rosalind of Madame Mod- 
jeska must now be added to the list of suc- 
cessful aspirants — not in the same degree 
with Miss Neilson, perchance, whose English 
birth and tongue gave her all advantage 
over a stranger — but eminently successful 
as compared with the greater number who 
have tried and achieved but moderate triumph. 
Her conception of the character of Rosalind 
is highly intelligent. When she assumed 
the forester's dress of Ganymede she shone 
forth in her native and acquired gifts. Lovely 
in person and costume, graceful and easy as 
it is possible to conceive, her scenes with 
Orlando were played with a delicate refine- 
ment of manner which produced the best 
effect and called for unqualified praise." 
The engagement in Boston lasted three 




MODJESKA AS "VIOLA. 



HELENA MODJESKA. I I I 

weeks, and then Madame Modjeska took a 
tour through the New England and Middle 
States and finally opened at Booth's Theatre, 
in New York, on December 12. 

On Madame Modjeska's arrival in New 
York from Washington, she was met at the 
depot in Jersey City by a large number of 
her fellow countrymen. The Polish organi- 
zations present included the Krakowa Young 
Men's Association, the Noiwiski Singing 
Society, the Polish Dramatic Society Fraedro, 
and the Battalion of Polish Sharpshooters. 
At the head of the procession was a large 
transparency on which was printed in English 
and Polish: " Welcome to Modjeska." 

As the artiste stepped out on the platform 
she was greeted by prolonged cheers, and 
when these had subsided, M. Mierzwinski, 
of Colonel Mapleson's troupe, presented her 
with a large bouquet of flowers and an 
address of welcome. On board the boat the 
singing societies sang the national airs of 
Poland, and when New York was reached 



112 HELENA MODJESKA. 

Madame Modjeska was escorted to the 
Clarendon Hotel. It was an agreeable sur- 
prise to the artiste, and the scene will long 
be remembered by those who, were present 
and witnessed the reception. 

Madame Modjeska opened her engage- 
ment at Booth's Theatre in the character of 
Rosalind. President Chester A. Arthur and 
his son occupied a box and were among the 
heartiest applauders in the audience. This 
engagement was a remarkable artistic as well 
as financial success ; every seat in the house 
being sold for every performance days in ad- 
vance. 

An instance of the exquisite breeding of 
this great artiste is shown by her reception of 
young Allan Arthur and a poor Pole who 
called on her. 

" One afternoon a few days after her ar- 
rival in New York two cards came up to 
Madame Modjeska's apartments about the 
same time, and two visitors were ushered in 
by accident at the same moment. One was 



HELENA MODJESKA. H3 

young Allan Arthur, and the other a Pole, 
perfectly unknown to her, who keeps a hab- 
erdasher's shop in Washington, and who 
wished to pay his respects to his countrywo- 
man. Madame Modjeska received them both 
exactly alike. The haberdasher was not made 
to feel his inferiority, nor was the President's 
son that he had conferred an honor — both 
were treated with delicate courtesy." 

It is pleasant indeed, after all the undigni- 
fied squabbles of theatrical stars, to find 
Madame Modjeska, with all the honors that 
have been conferred on her, so simple and 
unpretentious. 

The second week of the engagement at 
Booth's Theatre commenced with the produc- 
tion of " Twelfth Night," with Madame Mod- 
jeska as Viola. 

' 'Twelfth Night" was followed by 

" Camille," " Frou-Frou " and " Odette," 

the last named play being kept on until the 

close of the engagement. 

Madame Modjeska, after the expiration of 
8 



114 HELENA MODJESKA. 

her engagement at Booth's Theatre, went on 
a tour through the Eastern and Middle 
States, and then returned to New York to 
make arrangements for several western en- 
gagements, which she was to fill before she 
took her vacation. 

The existence of Booth's Theatre was 
brought to a close on the evening of April 
30, 1883, with a performance of " Romeo 
and Juliet," the same tragedy with which it 
was opened by Mr. Edwin Booth on the even- 
ing of February 3, 1869. On this occasion 
Madame Modjeska took the part of Juliet. 
The theatre was crowded from the orchestra 
to the upper gallery with old theatre-goers, 
who were drawn there to bid an adieu to the 
theatre, which had afforded them so many 
pleasant hours in the past. At the close of 
the last act Madame Modjeska was called 
before the curtain, and in response to an ur- 
gent demand that she would address the au- 
dience, said : 

"It is always the unexpected that happens. 



HELENA MODJESKA. 115 

and certainly to me nothing is more unex- 
pected than that it should fall to my lot to 
say the last words that will ever be addressed 
to an audience from the stage of this noble 
theatre. As a foreigner who has long en- 
joyed the generous hospitality and kindly 
appreciation of the American people, it is 
impossible for me to exaggerate the feeling 
of deep interest which animates me on this 
memorable occasion. I have the pleasure to 
know the splendid artist who gave his for- 
tune and his energies to the building of this 
theatre, which he naturally hoped would re- 
main for all time as a monument of the art 
he so loves and so adores, and I know that 
in the midst of his triumphs abroad, the intel- 
ligence that, when he returns to his native 
land, full of honors, and loaded with trophies, 
Booth's Theatre will be but a memory, will 
cloud with sadness the brilliancy of his fair 
horizon. Fourteen years have passed since 
the first representation was given on these 
boards ; and then, as on to-night, the great 



Il6 HELENA MODJESKA. 

genius of William Shakespeare supplied the 
entertainment Of the plays and players 
that have since been seen here, there is no 
time for me to speak to you, and besides 
they are matters of contemporaneous his- 
tory, and I am, like Marc Antony, come to 
bury Caesar, not to praise him. Let me, 
therefore, dear public, simply invite you to 
believe in the entire sincerity with which I 
in my own personality repeat to you again 
the words of Juliet — ' parting is such sweet 
sorrow that I could say good-night, 'till it 
was to-morrow ; ' and the affectionate regret 
with which I say to Booth's Theatre — fare- 
well r 

During the four weeks of Madame Mod- 
jeska's engagement in San Francisco, she 
appeared in seven characters : " Adrienne 
Lecouvreur," " Rosalind," " Frou-Frou," 
" Viola," "Camilla," "Marie Stuart," and 
" Juliet," the last named being produced at 
her farewell performance. Of this the edi- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 1 7 

tor of the " Overland Monthly " speaks in 
the following terms : 

"Though Madame Modjeska will always 
be young in the memories of those who have 
had the good fortune to see her, it was a happy 
thought to bid us farewell in the person of this 
youngest heroine. With golden hair, in a sim- 
ple, girlish, rose-colored gown, she looked not 
a day over eighteen. When we beheld the 
girlish outbursts, the sweet ingenuousness, 
the thousand charming ways of maidenhood 
by which she vivified her role, we could not 
but wish she might be young forever, in order 
to set before men her high types of woman- 
hood, from generation to generation." 

After Madame Modjeska had finished her 
Western tour she and M. Chlapowski, with 
a few friends, went on a camping excursion 
in the Yellowstone Park, where she remain- 
ed for nearly two months. 

In a few weeks she will commence her 
" Farewell American Tour," opening in 
Des Moines, Iowa, with Cymbeline, playing 



I 1 8 HELENA MODJESKA. 

Imogen, a new part for her, and which she 
has been studying in the mean time. This 
engagement finished, she will go to Europe, 
where she will remain for several years. 

I close this biography with the earnest 
wish that Madame Modjeska's pathway will 
continue to be strewn with laurels, and that 
it will be a long number of years ere the 
closing chapters of her life will be written. 



CRITICISMS ON 

MADAME MODJESKA'S ACTING, 

BY 

HENRY LABOUCHERE, 

GEORGE AUGUSTA SALA, 

CLEMENS SCOTT, 
WILLIAM WINTER, 

GEORGE EDGAR MONTGOMERY, 
AND JOHN C. FREUND 



MODJESKA'S "JULIET." 



MODJESKA'S -JULIET." 






HE name of Madame Modjeska will 
inevitably become associated with 
that of Shakespeare's first, sweetest, 
and most poetic tragic heroine, and I venture 
to predict that the association will be one 
that will convey the most beautiful, the most 
intellectual and the most suggestive ideal of 
the character that has ever been presented 
to modern playgoers. 

As in her other characters, the controlling 
influence of Madame Modjeska' s "Juliet" is 
essentially the strikingly natural and uncon- 
ventional manner, which, whether in the 
highest reaches of tragedy, or in the most 
delicate tints of the lightest comedy, seems 



124 HELENA MODJESKA. 

to pervade the whole of the picture. So 
charmingly light and fresh and pure a picture 
of womanly grace and tenderness was surely 
never combined with the mad abandon of 
uncontrollable passion and frenzied despair 
which is developed in the later scenes of 
tragic and poetic romance woven by the 
magic master-hand. It is in these scenes 
that the true greatness of Juliet is unfolded, 
and it is in this phase of the character that 
the highest genius of Madame Modjeska is 
apparent. 

Nothing can exceed the charm of the 
representation of the earlier scenes, in which 
the love of Juliet bursts into the flame of an 
overmastering passion. No inquiry into the 
motive or truth of the Shakespearian concep- 
tion is needed to enable us to judge of the 
vivid realization of the conception that the 
actress achieves. It may be that Juliet pos- 
sessed a (( precocious facility " in the art and 
practice of love, but the duty of the actress is 
to achieve, and not to explain this character- 



HELENA MODJESKA. I 25 

istic. This Madame Modjeska does with a 
fullness and charm of modesty such as have 
never been surpassed in the representation of 
girlish passion or womanly devotion. The 
magnetic nature of Juliet vaguely trembles 
towards the pole-star of her love almost before 
she meets with Romeo, and the slumbering 
passion of a girl's romance, which has been lit 
by the reputation and the generous and lofty 
ardor of the handsome young nobleman, 
bursts forth in a sudden flame at the electric 
touch of her lover's lips, the first moment 
they meet at the ball. 

From this moment up to the sublimely 
tragic sacrifice at the end of the play, as the 
text demands, the character of Juliet is 
fixed, and her fate, which is to live or die by 
the passion of her love alone — and that is to 
rule all her thoughts and actions — is sealed. 
There is no awakening or growth of this 
passion in the first scene between the two 
lovers, it is already surging in the bosom of 
the impetuou ; girl, and there is no attempt 



126 HELENA MODJESKA. 

to curb or conceal it, or to suggest a gradual 
development. 

As in the text so it is in the living realiza- 
tion of the figure of phantom-like beauty 
which in the person of Modjeska, glows 
before us on the moonlit balcony. There is 
no element of questioning in Juliet's contem- 
plation why she should have fallen in love 
with Romeo. The prompting of her heart 
is " wherefore he should be Romeo " and a 
Montague, that he should be so much be- 
loved. The girlish innocence and delightful 
frankness of the avowal is rendered with a 
sweetest grace, in a voice of softest allure- 
ment, and in every pose of the entranced 
Juliet there is a piquant charm which the 
figure of Modjeska presents with a sur- 
passingly picturesque effect. There is a 
constant and ever-varying, but perfectly 
spontaneous and natural play of expression 
in voice and gesture which exercises a kind 
of spell over the audience, which listens in 
enrapt silence to the whispere i music of 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 27 

Juliet's love-making. Nothing can surpass 
the thrill of delight with which, upon re- 
entering, she suddenly re-discovers Ro- 
meo in the shadow of the ivy-grown wall 
— the surprise being expressed by a half- 
startled and stifled cry and an impulsive 
leaning forward and darting downwards of 
the hands — nor the ingenuous eagerness of 
the fondling action of resting her cheek up- 
on and kissing the very stones that to Juliet 
have been hallowed by his touch. Only 
such delightfully extravagant actions can 
express that "idolatry," which is as "bound- 
less as the sea I" 

Another of the most exquisite phases of 
Juliet's passion is in the burning anxiety 
with which she receives the message of the 
testy and garrulous old nurse on her return 
from the interview with Romeo. The very 
excess of joy struggles with the fiery eager- 
ness of anticipation as she coaxes the nurse 
in a rapid succession of girlish wiles and 
endearments to disclose the news. She flies 



128 HELENA MODJESKA. 

across the stage with a dainty and gossamer- 
like grace, showers her sweetest kisses upon 
the messenger upon whose words her hopes 
depend, and then in an assumed outburst of 
impatient weeping — a point which is per- 
fectly rendered and lavishly appreciated — 
alarms the fond old nurse into a sympathe- 
tic disclosure of the message. With ex- 
cess of joyful impetuosity and eyes swim- 
ming with delight, she kisses the astonished 
messenger again and again, and then dis- 
appears, like a fitful gleam of sunshine, to 
prepare for the " high future " of her nup- 
tials. 

The bright sparkle of this delightful and 
unapproachable performance forms a singu- 
larly startling contrast to the overshadowing 
gloom of the first of the tragic scenes in 
which in the superb opening soliloquy Juliet 
appeals to Romeo to come unseen on the 
" wings of night," and afterwards learns of 
Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment. 
He is now "her Romeo," and the enthusi- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 129 

astic eirl has changed into the heroic and 
ardent wife. Here commence those sublime 
flights of tragic power which raise this actress 
far above all other Juliets in the majestic 
grandeur as well as in the passionate ardor 
of her illimitable and uncontrollable love. 
Her alternate grief at Tybalt's death and 
wild denunciation of the nurse for daring to 
wish that shame should come to Romeo, 
are rendered with sublime force ; and per- 
haps the grandest part of this conception is 
the thrilling and daring originality of the 
passage where she herself in a hysterical 
frenzy denounces her lover and her husband 
as a ''fiend angelical," a "damned saint," 

and an "honorable villain." This extraordi- 

c 

nary outburst — for the first time in the render- 
ing of the character— is accounted for by a 
sudden revelation of real madness on. the 
part of Juliet, and the nature of the terrible 
blow which shakes the mental poise of -the 
frail and romantic girl (already predisposed 
to excitability), is only fully disclosed when 
9 



I30 HELENA MODJESKA. 

the strangely calm reaction of deliberation 
and attempted reasoning sets in. 

From this time Juliet is unnaturally and 
icily cold and cunning. Beneath the out- 
ward show of obedience there is the lurking 
desperation which is not allayed by the pos- 
session of the potion which she receives from 
the friar. Her reliance is more upon the 
dagger, which she constantly and uneasily 
unsheathes with a glittering and deadly de- 
termination that it shall save her from the 
projected alliance with Paris. This indica- 
tion of the growing insanity of Juliet is, in 
my opinion, the greatest intellectual triumph 
that has ever been achieved in the represen- 
tation of the character. It is the boldest and 
most daring and original rendering of Juliet 
that has ever been attempted. It opens up 
a psychological phase of study that is almost 
unknown to the commentators, and to Ma- 
dame Modjeska is due all the credit of this 
marvellously graphic and suggestive concep- 
tion. If in her hands Juliet's mind is not 



HELENA MODJESKA. 131 

completely shattered like Ophelia's, it is at 
least unhinged and strained to a point bor- 
dering closely on the very confines of mad- 
ness. If I had space I could show that 
this idea is abundantly suggested in the text. 
At all events, it is carried out by Modjeska 
from this point with exquisite finish and ap- 
palling power. 

Take, for instance, the greatest of all her 
tragic scenes, where, after a long and weird 
deliberation and self- questioning, she takes 
the potion which is to bring oblivion. A 
" faint, cold fear thrills through her veins," 
and she conjures up with dreadful vividness 
the ghastly possibilities of the potion being 
intended for her destruction, or of awakening 
in the loathsome vault among dead men's 
bones, where " the bloody Tybalt, yet but 
green in earth, lies festering in his shroud." 
Is it not possible, asks the already dis- 
traught and quivering wreck of girlhood, 
that should she wake amid the shrieks of 
hideous spirits, she may go mad? Here 



132 HELENA MODJESKA. 

the grand climax and justification of the 
insanity is reached. If she wakes, may she 
not — 

* * « Madly play with my forefathers' joints, 
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud ? 
And, in his rage, with some great kinsman's bone, 
As with a club, dash out my desperate brains ? — 
Oh, look, methinks I see my cousin's ghost ! 

* * Stay, Tybalt, stay ! 

Romeo, I come, — this do I drink to thee." 

The previous smouldering insanity of Juliet, 
in this last frantic paroxysm of anguish, lights 
up into the very ecstasy of madness, and her 
whole soul is launched in the wirlwind of 
terrors which her fevered and frantic imagi- 
nation calls up. In the sudden shriek, where 
she imagines she sees Tybalt's ghost, the 
actress seems altogether to lose. herself in 
the awful reality of the situation. Trans- 
fixed and rigid for a moment, in the centre 
of the stage, she stands crouching and expect- 
ing the dead embrace, and then gradually 
turning her head towards the Tar corner of the 
darkened chamber, and catching a glimpse 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 33 

of a curtain shadow, with a horrible cry she 
makes one bound into a seat near the table, 
where, with her limbs drawn up convulsively, 
her whole frame quivering, her very teeth 
chattering, and a cold sweat upon her livid 
features, she lies exhausted amid a profound 
and shuddering silence. Slow T ly and trem- 
blingly she recovers from her terror suffi- 
ciently to take the potion, and in the last 
wild burst of frenzy she falls, clutching at 
the table cover, which she pulls over her 
head, throwing down and extinguishing the 
lights. 

This is an ending worthy of the sublimest 
genius, and a climax which dignifies the scene 
— especially in the winding of the cloth round 
her body as she falls, to the grandeur of a 
Roman tragedy. 

I cannot dwell on the thrilling impressive- 
ness of the awakening and death in the tomb 
which closes this magnificent performance; 
but the end is worthy of the high genius 
which inspires the actress throughout, and 



134 HELENA MODJESKA. 

nothing could be more exquisitely and poet- 
ically beautiful than the pathetic action where 
Juliet falls upon the body of Romeo, and in 
the final yearning movement of the head as 
she dies, allows her lips to rest upon 
his. 



MODJESKA'S "MARIE STUART." 



MODJESKA'S -MARIE STUART." 




CHILLER understood the mechan- 
isms of the stage, but he was not a 
dramatist in the sense of being able 
to give life to the characters of a play. His 
poetry is itself somewhat didactic, and his 
stage heroes and heroines are far too much 
given to making elaborate speeches. He 
would, perhaps, have succeeded better had 
he never drawn his plots from history, for he 
allowed his imagination so to distort fact 
that the real jars with the unreal. Perhaps 
n Marie Stuart " is the best of Schiller's plays ; 
although I advance this view with fear and 
trembling, for Mr. Carlyle holds it to be one 
of the worst. 



I38 HELENA MODJESKA. 

The plot is somewhat tiresome, and even 
the telling scenes are too much spun out ; the 
Marie of the piece is not the Mary Stuart 
known to history, and the incidents are pure 
inventions ; but there is more of human nature 
in it than either in " Don Carlos," or " Wal- 
lenstein :" and if things did not happen as 
the poet relates them, they at least might 
have, had circumstances been different. 

There is no character which has more exer- 
cised the ingenuity of mankind than that of 
Mary Queen of Scots. Some historians de- 
scribe her as the purest of the pure, others 
regard her as the vilest of the vile. The 
truth is that she was like many women. 
She was clever, fascinating, and accom- 
plished, with a passion for intrigue, and a 
conviction that she could make all men who 
came in contact with her the instruments of 
her designs. Once, and once only, she 
entirely lost her head, when she fell in love 
with Bothwell. She became a mere play- 
thing in his hands, and would have sacrificed 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 39 

everything for the pleasure of being with 
him. There is no reasonable doubt that she 
assented to the plot to kill Darnley, and 
still less that she wrote the letters to Both- 
well about which there has been so much 
controversy. Men and women often become 
fools when they are in love, and this is more 
often the case with women than with men. 
They seem to have no will of their own whilst 
the passion lasts, and what their lover is 
they are. 

When Mary entered England she had 
entirely recovered from her Bothwell fever, 
and she sought to play her game of ambition 
with cool calculation. Occasionally her fem- 
inine dislike of Elizabeth led her into a fault, 
but she speedily managed to extricate her- 
self from it. Any pity that may be felt for 
her long imprisonment is pity thrown away. 
She had no desire to leave .England; at 
numerous periods she might have done so 
without difficulty, had she so wished it. 
That she was cognizant of the attempt to 



140 HELENA MODJESKA. 

assassinate Elizabeth which led to the final 
catastrophe is probable ; in any case she had 
a shrewd suspicion of it, and was ready to 
profit by it. Those who play for high stakes 
must pay when they lose. Elizabeth was 
fully justified, both morally and politically, in 
having her executed, and the only wonder is 
that she hesitated so long in adopting this 
course. 

Mary was beautiful, agreeable and unfortu- 
nate ; therefore we are called upon to forget 
her misdeeds, and to regard her as a martyr. 
She had some virtues, and some vices. She 
probably considered that Elizabeth was her 
natural enemy, and that she had suffered 
wrong at her hands. Therefore, she fancied 
that she was justified in retaliating ; but she 
had no right to complain if Elizabeth fought 
her with her own weapons, and cut off her 
head. The " Marie Stuart" of Schiller is a 
suffering victim, more pure and more good 
than it is often given to humanity to be. 
Elizabeth, on the other hand, is a jealous 



HELENA MODJESKA. 141 

virago. Leicester seeks to acquire the love 
of both, and is loved by Elizabeth, who, after 
ill-treating her rival for a good many years, 
at length kills her ; whilst Lord Burleigh is 
the grim politician who uses the jealousy of 
his mistress to gain his own ends. 

Schiller's Marie is a character which well 
suits Madame Modjeska. Considering the 
number of very common-place, so called, ac- 
tresses, with about sufficient intelligence to be 
a nursery governess, or a bar-maid, who are 
nowadays puffed and advertised into notoriety 
on the score of one or two parts which they 
have laboriously learned, and which they go 
through like parrots, it is really refreshing to 
witness the performance of this Polish lady. 
That she has carefully studied what is termed 
" stage business " is evident, but her art is so 
exquisite, that it has all the appearance of 
nature. I do not think that I ever saw a 
scene better played than that between her 
and Elizabeth. The pathos with which she 
pleaded her cause at the commencement of 



142 HELENA MODJESKA. 

the scene contrasted wonderfully with her 
indignant scorn when she is roused by her 
rival's insults, and bitterly returns them. 
The great charm of her acting is that she 
never merges the woman in the heroine; 
and that whatever phase of passion she por- 
trays, she enlists the sympathies of her audi- 
ence with her. The adieus to all her friends 
and dependents are rendered with deep 
pathos. Every word, every gesture of Mary, 
from the moment when she left her room, to 
that when her head fell, is well known. She 
was herself an eminent actress. Her aim 
was to create an effect, and this she did most 
successfully in the last scene that she played, 
arrayed from head to foot in scarlet, on the 

world's stage. 

Henry Labouchere, 

London Truth. 



MODJESKA'S 'ADEIEME LECOUYEEUR." 



MODJESKA'S "ADRIENNE LECOU 
VREUR." 



DLLE. SARA BERNHARDT'S 

I (r/ g "Adrienne" was a superb creation. 
kF&L&i I preserve the memory of it very 
freshly in my mind, as, with little less dis- 
tinctness, I retain the remembrance of Rachel 
in " Adrienne ;" but I do not intend to insti- 
tute any comparisons between the different 
renderings of the great French actress of the 
last generation, the consummate artiste, Sara 
Bernhardt, and the gifted Polish lady who 
has achieved so brilliant and so legitimate a 
triumph at the Court Theatre. Madame 
Modjeska's " Adrienne Lecouvreur " should 
10 



I46 HELENA MODJESKA. 

be judged entirely on its own merits, and as 
a distinctly independent and original study 
of one of the finest characters in the modern 
French repertory. The entire interest in the 
piece centres in Madame Modjeska as " Adri- 
enne." Her forte consists first in alternately 
playful and pathetic love-making, in which 
she can be as fascinating and as tender as 
the best Juliet that ever graced our stage ; 
and next in simulating with great power and 
directness the last struggles of a dying person. 
Some critics have held that elaborate dying 
is not a legitimate branch of art. They held 
with Voltaire (who had the impudence to call 
Shakspeare tin barbarie) that moribund act- 
ors and actresses should give up the ghost 
behind the scenes, and refrain from bringing 
the actual thanatos down to the footlights ; 
but as long as " Juliet," or the " Queen in 
Hamlet," and " Desdemona" die — so long 
as the body of " Cordelia " is brought in 
dead, and " Ophelia" is buried coram publico 
— "Frou-Frou," and " Marguerite Gauthier," 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 47 

and "Adrienne Lecouvreur" must be suf- 
fered to expire in full sight of the audi- 
ence ; and painfully touching as were the 
death-deliriums and collapse of Madame 
Modjeska as "Adrienne," her simulated suf- 
ferings did not produce that sensation of 
painful uneasiness which was awakened by 
the passage of " Marie Stuart " to the scaf- 
fold, and her lugubrious recitation of the 
Penitential Psalms in low Latin, at the 
wings. 

Splendid was the skill used by Madame 
Modjeska in the dying scene in the fifth act 
of " Adrienne Lecouvreur." As the consum- 
mation of the tragedy approached, it was in 
the highest degree interesting, as it was like- 
wise most unusual to see how pit and gallery, 
and to a certain extent, the boxes, took the 
task of deciding on the merits of Madame 
Modjeska. The house literally rose. In no 
theatre these many years past, have I heard 
such a tremendous roar of acclamation as 
that which greeted this truly great actress 



148 HELENA MODJESKA. 

when she finally sank expiring into the arms 
of Maurice de Saxe ; and at the conclusion 
of the drama she was recalled at least five 
times, amid a perfect Babel of enthusiastic 
applause. 

George Augusta Sala, 
Illustrated London News. 



MODJESKA'S "ODETTE.' 



MODJESKA'S -ODETTE.' 




T is not essential to the completeness 
of this article that we should dwell 
minutely upon the points of differ- 
ence between the English adaptation of M. 
Sardou's " Odette," and the original play. 
Our French neighbors, in the course of 
their growing revolt against Catholic dogma, 
have become agitated on the question 
of divorce, and M. Sardou, never averse 
from making hay while the sun shines, has 
discussed the matter with laudable impar- 
tiality from several points of view. If, in 
"Daniel Rochat," he met the question with 
a negative, in " Divorgons " he dallied with 
the notion under the guise of ridicule, while 



152 HELENA MODJESKA. 

in " Odette," he practically demonstrates its 
wisdom and justice. 

Taking " Odette" as now presented, we 
come first upon one of those domestic convul- 
sions from which, unfortunately, English 
homes are not exempt. There is a beautiful 
wife in Paris, and a fond husband in London. 
The loveliness of the woman attracts, while 
her vanity and frivolity encourage, the roar- 
ing lions of society, who go about seeking 
whom they may devour. By one of these, 
Prince Troubitzkoy, Lady Henry Trevene 
(Odette) has been marked for his own, and 
we have not made their acquaintance long 
before we know that he will succeed. Her 
English friend, John Stratford, learns it, too, 
when, one fatal night, he, with the Prince 
and Philip Eden, an attache of the Embassy, 
accompany Lady Henry home. From the 
moment they cross the threshold, events 
crowd thick and fast, and we look on with 
bated breath and beating heart. Odette dis- 
misses Eden, who has lingered behind the 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 53 

rest, and retires to her chamber ; previously, 
with a hesitation that indicates the last re- 
proach of departing virtue, unlocking a side 
door. The servants have extinguished the 
lights, when Lord Henry comes suddenly 
upon the scene, with hearty words for Eden, 
whom he has compelled to return, and all 
loving inquiries for wife and child. The man 
is overjoyed at being so near the objects of 
his affection, but before he can rush to em- 
brace them, the side door opens, and through 
the semi-darkness the Prince steals towards 
Odette's room. The infuriated husband 
springs upon him ; there is a momentary 
struggle, a challenge, and an ignominious 
exit. Sin has fallen upon the home like a 
thunderbolt, and Lord Henry's first thought, 
on recovering from the terrible shock, is of 
punishment. He acts promptly and decisive- 
ly. The child is secured in another room, 
but the wife? She, hearing footsteps ap- 
proach her chamber, comes forth and fondles 
her husband with words of endearment in 



154 HELENA MODJESKA. 

tended for the paramour. For a moment 
she denies her guilt, then she braves its con- 
sequences, and recklessly, defiantly, prepares 
to leave her husband's house. Now comes 
the crisis. She would take her child, but 
the little one is hers no longer. With her 
wifehood she has forfeited maternity. For 
the one she cares little, but the other is her 
life and soul. On her knees she begs for 
mercy to the mother, and none is granted 
by the stern judge. Then, rising with a 
superb gesture of rage and scorn, she hurls 
at her husband the word " Lache," and goes 
forth into the night. It is this final moment 
which determines the whole drama. Retri- 
bution and Revenge stand, for an instant, 
face to face, and though they separate, we 
know that they will meet again to fight a 
not unequal battle. On the side of Retribu- 
tion are all forces of society ; on the side of 
Revenge, the strength of a mother's love 
and despair, and the power which the fallen 
wife of a good man has to overshadow his 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 55 

name with the blackness of darkness. Need 
we stop to enlarge upon the effects of this 
first act ? Not a word is wasted. It op- 
presses an audience with the suddenness and 
completeness of its catastrophe, and opens up 
a vista of terror adown which one hardly 
cares to look. After such excitement there 
should be repose, and this comes with the 
second act — a calm between two storms. 

Fifteen years have passed ; the child Eva 
Trevene has grown into a woman, and the 
hairs of her fathers head are white. She 
believes that her mother was drowned at 
Nice, and is now a saint in heaven. Her 
father is father and mother in one, while 
"love's young dream," personified by an Irish 
peer, Lord Shandon, makes the whole pro- 
saic world seem a place of enchantment. 
Lord Henry is at Nice with his daughter ; 
there, too, are Philip Eden and his young 
wife ; John Stratford, now developed into a 
cynic whom everybody in revenge calls 
"Johnny;" and last, though not least, the 



I56 • HELENA MODJESKA. 

Irish lover. The Carnival is on, but the 
elders of the party see a skeleton in the pro- 
cession, a death's-head at the feast. Odette, 
still Lady Henry Trevene — for her husband 
refuses the relief allowed by law — has sunk 
into the condition of a needy adventuress, 
wandering from one " shady " place of Con- 
tinental resort to another, and now living at 
Nice in company with an American quack, 
Dr. Broadway Wilks, and a doubtful widow, 
Lady Walker. We only hear of her in this 
act, but enough of the plot is unfolded to 
give an idea of the power she still wields. 
Lord Shandon's family will not consent to 
his marriage with Eva unless Odette ceases 
to bear her husband's name. The disgraced 
and ruined woman thus holds her daughters 
happiness in her hands. She knows it not 
yet, but she will know it, and then to strike 
the father through the child. At the begin- 
ning of the third act the storm draws near. 
We are admitted to the apartment of Dr. 
Broadway Wilks what time that practitioner, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 157 

with Odette and Lady Walker, receives a 
''mixed lot," of hawks and pigeons. Here, 
too, comes Philip Eden, not as a gambler, but 
as an ambassador from Lord Henry to his 
wife. While a hubbub of voices sounds 
through the closed doors of the card-room, 
Philip tries to work upon Odette's feelings in 
favor of her daughter. He touches the 
chord of maternity, and it gives forth a note 
full and strong that rouses the languishing 
sympathy of the audience. The mother 
pours out a torrent of questions respecting 
her daughter. Her love wells over in its 
abundance, and, for a moment, we are in- 
clined to believe that she will make the sac- 
rifice required. But the spirit of retribution 
is there. She must not see her child, and 
the harsh sentence revives the past, with its 
thirst for revenge. The woman now feels 
her power, and, conscious of strength, agrees \ 
to an interview with her husband. That 
meeting quickly follows under strange and 
startling circumstances. Dr. Broadway 



158 HELENA MODJESKA. 

Wilks cheats at cards once too often, and is 
found out. An episode of vulgar quarrelling 
ensues, and as the swindler is haled off by 
his victims, Odette calls, out of the depths of 
her despair, for a deliverer. An answer 
comes from her husband by way of prelude 
to a long and trying scene of recrimination, 
pain, and tears. Finally, it is arranged that 
Odette shall have an interview with Eva in 
the character of her mother's friend. To 
this the husband consents in the interest of 
his child, and the wife because she promises 
herself the supreme revenge of making her 
shameful identity known to the innocent girl 
in the presence of him who would die to pre- 
vent it. Once more, then, has the drama 
reached a high pitch of interest. The final 
struggle is at hand, and it will soon be known 
whether the mother hardens at sight of the 
treasure she has lost, or softens the harsh- 
ness of retribution by repentance. 

The last act opens in the sunshine of love 
and happiness. Eva and Mrs. Eden ex- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 59 

change views, " leading up to M marriage, th& 
maid receiving from the matron certain 
shreds of sage advice which she follows to 
the letter in a subsequent interview with 
Lord Shandon. All this is very pretty and 
engaging, but the brightness of it fades as a 
weary woman, dressed in black, appears up- 
on the scene. With Odette comes the crisis, 
and we prepare to watch the issue. The 
struggle takes place on a narrow field. 
Lord Henry is present, sad and resolute as 
ever, but remains dumb after introducing 
Eva to her " mother's friend." A moment 
more and the issue is clear. The furtive 
touch of the hand, the momentary kiss 
impressed upon the brown hair, show that 
the maternal instinct is aroused, and Eva's 
happiness assured. 

A spirit of sacrifice for love's sake holds in 
check the passion for revenge. But this is 
not all. Odette has to drink a bitter cup to 
the dregs, and suffer there, in presence of 
those she had wronged, a retribution more 



l6o HELENA MODJESKA. 

severe than any her husband could inflict. 
The child — the means through which she 
aimed to reach Lord Henry's heart — tortures 
her own. Eva talks of her dead mother, 
how good and sweet she was, how her father 
loved her and often tenderly spoke of her, 
how she saw that mother in her dreams, 
played the music she loved, and cherished the 
few relics that remained of her. Even her 
favorite theme — that of the slow movement 
in Beethoven's first sonata — the suffering 
woman is doomed to hear, and to bear with 
all its torturing reminiscences. What won- 
der that she breaks down ! This surely is 
expiation, and we marvel if there be mercy 
and forgiveness. But the husband remains 
silent and impassive. For him events mus 
go on to the bitter end. At last, after pas- 
sionate embraces and burning kisses which 
alarm the girl, Odette moves slowly away, 
a drooping, broken figure, with nothing to 
do but to die. She has conquered herself 
and made sacrifice for sin. Well for her and 



> 



HELENA MODJESKA. l6l 

such as her that Heaven's justice is temper- 
ed with mercy more than man's. The les- 
son is a terrible one, and we are not dispos- 
ed to quarrel with it on the ground of social 
expediency. But the ' denouement ' pains 
and perplexes. Human nature is often bet- 
ter than human laws, and we would save 
much to see the sad and humbled creature 
who turns finally from husband and child to 
go forth friendless and condemned, received 
into their arms. 

" Odette " is a powerful play. Its appeals 
to human consciousness are forcible and true, 
and its problems are those which have an 
abiding interest for thoughtful minds. 

The Odette of Madame Modjeska is 
marked by qualities of the highest order. 
It presents a studied picture of the erring 
wife, swayed by conflicting emotions, and 
passing rapidly from one mood to another ; 
now revengeful, now loving, now hard as a 
nether millstone, now dissolved in tears. 

Nothing in the performance is more admir- 
ii 



1 62 HELENA MODJESKA. 

able than the ease and naturalness with 

which Madame Modjeska accommodates 

herself to this variableness, save, perhaps, 

the depth of feeling and power of pathetic 

expression shown in the interview of mother 

and child. In this scene Madame Modjeska 

touched every heart, and consummated a 

success by no means the least memorable in 

her career. 

Clemens Scott. 



HODJESKi'S "CAMILLK" 



MODJESKA'S " CAMILLE." 




ADAME MODJESKA is a great 
actress. Her nature is greatly dra- 
matic, and her art of mimetic 
expression is perfect. The play of Camille 
is a useless picture of the insufferable, yet 
remediless misery which follows upon a great 
sin. To see Camille is to suffer and to weep 
— and then to be neither stronger, wiser, 
better nor more clear-sighted than before. 
Persons who yield to vice must, and invaria- 
bly do, suffer the consequences of their 
wrong conduct. They sin in their souls, and 
their punishment begins in their soul's, co- 
incident with their sin. It is not society that 
tortures Camille and Armand; it is the 



1 66 HELENA MODJESKA. 

eternal, immutable, inexorable, moral law of 
the universe. Art, when it touches this 
aspect of human experience, necessarily 
pledges itself to become didactic. It ceases 
to interpret, and assumes to teach ; and, in 
this instance, since it stops short when it has 
attained its harrowing picture of anguish, 
and makes no application of it, and asserts 
no principle or comfort, or hope, as growing 
out of it, the assumption surely cannot be 
held to be justified. The spectator may, 
indeed, leave Camille with the thought that 
any fate is better than the fate of those who 
love ; that insensibility is the one thing most 
of all to be desired in this life, and that no 
crime can be so madly foolish as the crime 
of those who trifle with their human affec- 
tions. This way there may be a lesson and 
warning in Camille, but the most that ensues 
upon it is tearful, despairing pain; and 
this is borne in upon the heart in a manner 
greater than words can describe by the act- 
ing of Madame Modjeska. In her ideal, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 67 

Camille is by nature a good woman whom 
wayward impulse and evil accident have 
plunged into a bad life, from which under the 
stress of a pure and sacred love, she is striv- 
ing to free herself, but from the consequences 
of which she can never get free. In her 
execution of this ideal she has set before the 
public an embodiment of such bewildering 
beauty, natural emotion, and exquisite grace, 
that for the first time, the subject of this piece 
is really made to seem one that ought to be 
treated, and the piece itself is half redeemed. 
No logic could accomplish this result ; but 
the force of genius and the fineness of con- 
summate art have power to make the theme 
one of feeling rather than reason. Mod- 
jeska's Camille once seen, will no more be 
spared from our stage, nor suffered to fade 
from remembrance, than Ristori's " Theresa," 
or Seibach's " Marguerite." 

As we think upon it there rises in fancy a 
lithe, willowy figure, whose raiment is the 
perfection of opulent simplicity — just touched 



1 68 HELENA MODJESKA. 

with a kind of strange richness — and whose 
every movement is perfect grace. The face 
is pallid with sorrow ; the large, dark, liquid 
eyes are full of mournful light ; the voice — 
in its low tones as sweet as childhood, and 
always suggestive of innocence and happi- 
ness — pierces to the heart in its louder tones 
of supplication, and vibrates with a nameless 
thrill of despairing agony. This figure 
obeys in every motion the feeling that pos- 
sesses it. The tumult of self-reproach, the 
bitterness of doubt, the ecstacy of contented 
and confiding love, the mingled torment and 
sublimity of enforced self-sacrifice, the devotion 
to virtuous purpose, and the conflict betwixt 
earthly hope and heavenly resignation are 
all expressed by it with the elements of abso- 
lute sincerity and in a form responsive to the 
nicest touch of the guiding thought which 
controls every particle of the work. It is 
impossible to recognize with too much 
acceptance the splendid mechanism with 
which the artiste acts. It is a net-work of 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 69 

movements, attitudes, gestures, tones, pauses, 
glances, and quiet, indescribable, subtle sug- 
gestions which, altogether, is faultless in 
delicacy and superb, in completeness. Her 
portraiture is all action ; her simulation is all 
reality ; her art is all inspired. This was 
felt more than it was seen in her embodiment 
of Adrienne, because that character is some- 
what evanescent and impalpable in compari- 
son with Camille, and also because Madame 
Modjeska had to speak thin and ineffective 
words — in a badly adapted translation of the 
French play. 

In Camille she attains to a freedom that 
she did not before entirely possess ; and if 
indications mean anything, she will be 
greater yet in Phaedra, Myrrha and other 
kindred characters of classical drama. It is 
not possible to specify all these great mo- 
ments of her Camille. The outburst in the 
third act, when this tortured human being 
cries to heaven : " Why do I live ?" is as fine 
as anything that ever was done upon the 



rjO HELENA MODJESKA. 

stage. No actress has ever here expressed, 
with anything like the fidelity to nature, and 
the winning sweetness of temperament which 
Madame Modjeska employs, that glad con- 
tent and speechless ecstacy with which the 
eyes of pure love look upon the object of its 
devotion. This wonderful felicity of expres- 
sion, so simple and easy when it is devoted, 
Madame Modjeska is the first to use ; and 
by this she reveals the soul that fills her 
works. This embodiment of living and suf- 
fering womanhood ends with a death-scene 
free from every taint of physical decay. 
There is no odor of drugs diffused around the 
death-bed of Camille ; and the only touch of 
realism is made with exquisite taste, and 
with a terrible natural effect, in the gradual 
yet quiet fall of the corpse from the little 
couch, at the moment of dissolution. 

William Winter. 
New York Tribune. 



KODJESKA'S " FROU-FROU.' 



MODJESKA'S -FROU-FROU." 




ADAME MODJESKA'S "Frou- 
Frou " proves to be like her " Ju- 
liet," far better than some of the 
personations in her repertoire. While 
differing in intensity and power- from her 
Juliet as the two plays differ, Madame Mod- 
jeska's " Frou-Frou " is as fresh, beautiful and 
fascinating, and equally instinct with a com- 
plete established and appropriate individual- 
ity. Like her Juliet this must henceforth be 
for those who enjoyed it the perfect, the ideal 
embodiment of the role. Modjeska's une- 
qualled elasticity, verve and spirited grace in 
acting, find most happy employment in the 
role; and the pictures made in the early 
scenes depicting the light-hearted gayety 



1^4 HELENA MODJESKA. 

and frivolity of her Parisian life are simply 
enchanting. Her lithe, slender, supple fig- 
ure, whether in the black riding habit 
with velvet jockey-cap, the pink and tan- 
color negligdy the flower-trimmed satin even- 
ing dress, or the subsequent white cashmere 
and old-gold costume, is always as fine as a 
French painting. Her by-play, no matter 
how wild the gayety, how free the abandon 
with which she dashes hither and thither, or 
throws herself upon a sofa or a chair, is 
unerringly refined, and breathes of genuine 
ladyhood. This constant quality of Modjes- 
ka's acting is of special importance in a play 
where the slightest personal suggestion of 
impurity would make it all intolerable. It is 
in the delicate and thoughtful fullness of 
vivid detail and in the lighter vein that Mod- 
jeska's acting is most delicious ; but in the 
climaxes she rarely fails to make an electric 
fying effect at the last. 

George Edgar Montgomery, 
New York Times. 





MODJESKA'S "FROU-FROU." 



HE best " all-round" performance 

in the series in which Madame Mcd- 

J jeska has appeared was that of 



"Frou-Frou," which was produced to a crowd- 
ed house. This version of the comedy of MM. 
Meilhac and Halevy is by Mr. Comyns Carr, 
and is certainly a clever adaptation of the piece 
as it was presented at the Gymnase in 1869. 
The main feature of the performance was 
Madame Modjeska's impersonation of Frou- 
Frou. Those who had seen her as Constance 
and as Adrienne were curious to ascertain if 
she would reach in this part the high rank 
they had willingly assigned her after her for- 
mer efforts. Her performance as Adrienne 



I76 HELENA MODJESKA. 

Lecouvreur naturally suggested the thought 
that she would be equally satisfactory in the 
almost kindred part of Gilberte; but still the 
question remained whether her versatility 
was comprehensive enough to make as sig- 
nal a success in the one as she did in the 
other. The answer remained for a while in 
doubt. The evidence of passionate power 
came, as it must necessarily do in the case of 
a gifted actress, in the third act, where Gil- 
berte, after having vainly tried to induce her 
husband tu let her be the housewife, after 
having vainly sought the society of her child 
as a protec tion against the seductive influence 
of Valreas, assails her sister with bitter re- 
proaches that she has usurped the position of 
the housewife, and that she, too, has alienated 
the child from the mother. The closing 
words of this scene sound by no means so 
effetive in the English adaptation as they 
do in the original. That moving cry of Gil- 
berte's, " Mari enfant tu m'as tout pris; c'est 
bien, ga^le tout," after she has said in her 



HELENA MODTESKA. I 77 

jealous rage, 'Je m'avcne vaincue : je te c£de 
la place/' is ineffectually rendered in Mr. 
Comyns Carr's version ; and it says all the 
more for the actress that she was able to 
carry with her to the end the whole sympa- 
thies of the audience, and not only to evoke 
their sympathies but to arouse their tears as, 
after the agonizing conflict with Louise, she 
bursts from the room—to fly, as we all know, 
with Valreas to Venice. Nothing could be 
more artistic, if so cold a term may be used 
in this connection, than Madame Modjeska's 
urgent appeals, as articulately rendered by 
her gestures and the clinging fcrce of her fair 
arms as by her voice, when she beseeches 
Sartorys, who comes to Venice on a mission 
}f vengeance, to abandon his purpose of 
fighting a duel with Valreas. The actress 
leaves no doubt that it is not for the life of the 
new lover, but for the safety of the husband 
she is pleading. Nay, she pleads, and in 
tones that moved many of the ladies in the 
house to tears, that she fears Frou-Frou is 



i;8 HELENA MODJESKA. 

too ignoble a creature now to be fought over. 
The news presently comes that the duel has 
been fought, and the first thought of the 
err an c wife is, not for the lover with whom 
she fled, but, as it had been before for her 
son, so was it now for the husband she in a 
hasty moment deserted. Those who know 
the play know the rest — how she returns to 
what once was her home, to see once more 
her boy, to be once more in her dying mo- 
ments taken to the breast of her husband. 
The death of " Pauvre Frou-Frou," like that 
of Adrienne, is in no degree sensational. It 
is the death of an exhausted woman, whose 
parting pains are soothed by the ecstacy of 
joy which comes from penitence and forgive- 
ness. 

Joseph Knight. 

London Globe. 



MODJESKA II IEW YORK 






MODJESKA IN NEW YORK. 

t^M^rl O D EST Y does not always accom- 
i(J \gA N pany great success and high popu- 
f^S^i larity on the stage. This is an age 



when the artist who hides his light behind a 
bushel might just as well extinguish it alto- 
gether. The first principle prevailing in all 
branches of art now is insistance, and it is 
found to have a potent influence over the 
public mind. If art can lay little claim to 
modesty, public taste may certainly plead its 
abundance of that virtue. It rarely if ever 
finds out anything for itself, but appreciates, 
or fancies it appreciates something which 
certain interested persons have told them is 
the best of its kind. If the interested per- 



1 82 HELENA MODJESKA. 

sons should hesitate in their insistance, it is 
probable that the public will pause too, and 
hence the wisest and keenest purveyors of 
art carry their point by the breathless force 
and energy of their assaults. When the 
public complain, as they sometimes do, that 
they scarcely comprehend the beauty or the 
greatness of the treasure offered to them, 
the ready answer comes that the treasure is 
above their appreciation, and thus popular 
curiosity is aroused anew, and the artistic 
character of a nation is felt to be in jeopardy. 

A great many "triumphant successes" in 
all the spheres of art have been secured by 
these bold devices ; and as human nature 
changes very slowly, it is more than proba- 
ble that the insistance theory will continue 
to be practiced. 

But the public sometimes make discover- 
ies in art themselves, and when they find 
that they have unearthed a treasure, they 
have the double satisfaction of admiring it 
and appreciating their own cleverness. Ma- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 83 

dame Modjeska is a discovery of this kind. 

Three weeks ago Modjeska came before 
us after too long an absence, and gave us 
her well-studied interpretation of Shaks- 
peare's Rosalind. As the heroine of " As 
You Like It," Modjeska appeared for the 
first time in America as a comedienne, and 
to those who were unfamiliar with her tragic 
powers her Rosalind must have been a fasci- 
nating and perfect picture. In winning 
grace, in refinement, in poetry of motion, 
tenderness, and humor, it has never been 
surpassed in our day. 

It was a performance of infinite charm, 
and Madame Modjeska, whose art is ever 
growing, will, without doubt, furnish it with 
all the fullness it demands by fhe time she 
next appears in New York. 

When the great artiste appeared in 
" Camille," those who were strangers to her 
genius felt its full force for the first time. 
They had the grace of beautiful womanhood, 
the tenderness of the lover, the feverish fer- 



184 HELENA MODJESKA. 

vor of a soul awaking to unexpected happi- 
ness, arid the tragedy of a sad and terrible 
life. 

Much as v/e dislike "CamiUe" as a play, 
and strongly as we resent its morbid teach- 
ings, we cannot deny that Modjeska gives us 
as its heroine a picture of such rare loveli- 
ness and such almost divine sorrow that we 
become reconciled to Dumas' insidious 
teachings, and feel that his work, as inter- 
preted by this grand actress, is wholly human, 
powerful, and true. Modjeska makes us 
forget that we are sympathising with an 
abandoned woman, and we follow the story 
of her love, sacrifice, despair and death with 
an absorbing interest which drives away 
reason and argument. An indifferent or 
coarse actress makes Camille repulsive and 
the spectators indignant ; but Modjeska 
idealizes the woman, and we have her saying 
with Othello, "Oh, I ago ! the pity of it, 
Iago !" 

In "Frou-Frou " Madame Modejeska had 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 85 

a task not unlike that which she under- 
took in " Camille." She had to charm 
away our sober senses and extract our sym- 
pathy for a frivolous woman, who sins with- 
out excuse and repents without contrition. 
Gilberte is an even more repulsive character 
than Marguerite Gaulhier. Dumas' un- 
happy heroine has some excuse for her profli- 
gacy, seeing that she is brought up in a circle 
of vice and surrounded by associates who live 
on her shame and their own. Gilberte 
is reared in luxury and refinement, has a 
devoted husband, and what should preserve 
the purity of any true woman, a child. But 
she falls without temptation, and deliberately 
goes astray before any genuine effort is made 
to lead her into sin. But here again the 
beauty of Modjeska's art and its wonderful 
variety reconciles us to a character we ought 
to despise. The agonies of the outraged 
husband are placidly forgotten by those who 
see Modjeska in " Frou-Frou," and we have 
scarcely a thought to bestow on a family 



1 86 HELENA MODJESKA. 

shamed and humiliated by the folly of a friv- 
olous woman. It is all "Frou-Frou," with 
Modjeskas audience. There is only one 
channel for the audience's sympathies, and 
Louise -may make her virtue as pronounced 
as may be, and De Sartorys may expose his 
wounds, but we shut our eyes to them and 
find no place in our hearts except for the 
silly, reckless, sinful and heartless woman 
called Gilberte. All this is accomplished be- 
cause Madame Modjeska invests "Frou-Frou" 
with a charm of her own personality and 
because the art she displays is so subtle, so 
logical and yet so unobtrusive. Modjeska' s 
" Frou-Frou " is the moth fluttering round 
the flame. We know she will certainly be 
destroyed by it, but we watch her feeble 
efforts to resist its fascination and we follow 
her struggles with a pitiful but intense and 
absorbing interest. 

" Odette," in which Madame Modjeska ap- 
pears, is a powerful but somewhat unpleasant 
play. Being French, of course it deals with 



HELENA MODJESKA. 187 

a profligate wife and an outraged husband. 
French dramatists indeed give us very curious 
pictuies of French life. They try to teach 
us that all married French women, or at least 
those living in Paris, are unfaithful wives, 
and that their husbands are devoted and 
high-minded dupes. Surely, this basis of 
play writing is getting somewhat threadbare. 
It is almost as monotonous as the everlast- 
ing virtue of the English peasant and the de- 
termined rascality of the British nobleman 
who used to form the people of the old 
English domestic drama. It has none of the 
simple merit of the last named dramatic the- 
ory, for in the English drama vice was al- 
ways properly punished ; whereas, in the 
modern French play virtue has rather a hard 
time of it and sympathy is extended to the 
wicked or heartless heroine. 

The character of Odette is only saved from 
absolute contempt by the yearning love of 
the guilty mother for her child. This is a 
powerful dramatic motive, and Sardou uses it 



1 88 HELENA MODJESKA. 

with all his own remarkable skill. He boldly 
introduces it in the first- act, at the very mo- 
ment when the false wife is caught flagrante 
delicto. It thus secures sympathy at once for 
the erring mother and becomes the leading 
motive of the play, and redeems Odette from 
the disgust with which she would otherwise 
be regarded. In acting " Odette " Madame 
Modjeska has a much harder task than in 
playing either "Camille" or "Frou-Frou." 
These clever dramas to a certain extent play 
themselves, as they have a simple story with 
strong dramatic situations. " Odette," on 
the other hand, is rather a psychological 
study and the various acts seem written to 
show the working of one redeeming instinct 
in a nature which is otherwise coarse, sensual 
and false. Sardou seems to have thought 
himself able to dispense with dramatic effect, 
and hence we find that except in the first act, 
the curtain falls not on situations but anti- 
climaxes. The third, and most powerful 
act in the play, has three or four different 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 89 

stories in it, and might suggest plots for half- 
a-dozen plays ; and the long and great scene 
between Odette and her husband after work- 
ing us into a fever of expectation, suddenly 
collapses, and the curtain falls on a bewil- 
dered audience. 

Though we think the pages of a novel 
better adapted for psychological studies than 
the stage of a theatre, there can be no deny- 
ing the remarkable interest the character of 
Odette provokes, as acted by Madame Mod- 
jeska. The fine delicacy with which, in the 
opening scene, the actress suggests the true 
character of Odette where the author has not 
aided her by a sentence or a word, is among 
the most artistic of Madame Modjeska's 
effects. When the discovery is made, and 
the guilty wife is confronted with her hus- 
band and her shame, the change from the 
agony of fear to the defiance of despair was 
given with a thrilling power which Modjeska 
has only surpassed in her last act of " Adri- 



I90 HELENA MODJESKA. 

enne Lecouvreur." The wild fury of her 
grief and passion when she finds that her 
child has been taken from her was wonder- 
fully real and touching, and had, as we have 
already indicated, the effect of transferring 
the sympathies of the audience at once from 
the betrayed husband to the guilty, shame- 
less, but not quite heartless woman. 

Throughout this play Madame Modjeska 
exercises all her native charms of grace, elo- 
cution and refinement, and in the parts call- 
ing for the exercise of something almost akin 
to tragedy she rose to a height of which we 
think no other English-speaking actress is 
capable. "Rosalind," " Viola," "Camille," 
"Frou-Frou" and " Odette" form a broad 
repertoire, and to all of them Madame Mod- 
jeska was able to give an artistic finish and 
a personal charm which made her appear- 
ances in them memorable and notable dram- 
atic events. Of the five creations " Camille " 
is undoubtedly her greatest, but "Odette" ex 



Helena modjeska. 191 

hibits the actress in a new light, and gives 
us hope that we may yet see her in a play 
which will give scope to a great genius which 
is somewhat confined in its present limits. 

John C. Freund. 
Music and Drama. 



HODJESKA II LOIDOS. 




MODJESKA IN LONDON. 




SHALL be obliged to draw largely 
on my stock of adjectives in order to 
convey to you an idea of the brillian- 
cy of the audience which gathered on Satur- 
day to greet Madame Helena Modjeska's 
first night as " Marie Stuart." 

The scene of exterior London, with the 
fog, which Dante must have failed to make 
one of the attributes of his " Inferno," only 
because he was unfamiliar with it ; with the 
rain, whose swashing torrents cause one to 
fancy there must be a mistake somewhere, 
that man was destined to be amphibean and 
suffers because of this error in the manufac- 
ture of the human article; suddenly transla- 



I96 HELENA MODJESKA. 

ted to a region where fair, perfumed women, 
arrayed in beauty's brightest, sit in serried 
stalls awaiting the appearance of the star of 
the evening, the beautiful star! Here behind 
me is the handsome Lady Monckton, wife of 
Sir John, who is ' something in the city/ 
Perpetual Lord High, Chief Sheriff to a tran- 
sitory Lord Mayor or something. He was 
knighted when great Disraeli bade a farewell 
to all his greatness. Lady Monckton is a 
very handsome woman, and to-night wears a 
dress which well suits her beauty. It is an 
exact copy of that in which Mrs. Siddcns is 
painted in the fine portrait which is to be 
seen in the National Gallery, the only agree- 
able likeness of Mrs. Siddons extant, for 
surely that terrible, horrible 'Mrs. Siddons 
as the Tragic Muse ' ought to be suppressed 
as a breeder of nightmare. In the National 
Gallery portrait, Mrs. Siddons wears a very 
ladylike costume of blue and white narrow- 
striped silk, made to fit the figure closely, the 
bodice, open almost to the waist, folds of 



Helena modjeska. 197 

tulle performing modesty's office ; sleeves to 
the elbows, tight, turned back with the mus- 
keteer revers. A fine effect of color harmony 
is produced by the bracelets worn by Lady 
Monckton, all of which on one arm are of sil- 
ver, and all on the other of gold. They are 
narrow bangles and very numerous. The 
porte-veine pig, which had such immense suc- 
cess on the Continent as a charm for bracelets 
and watch-chains has never been much fan- 
cied here. In Paris that pig has now gone to 
the slaughter-house where fashion kills his 
kind. The squirming lizard met a similar fate, 
the negro's head was decapitated, the tiger's 
tooth has been extracted. For a bracelet 
with charms, the now only really aristocratic 
one is that inaugurated last? week by the 
Princess de Sagan at her Chateau of Belbeuf, 
This is the petiche-bracelet ; a galley-slave's 
chain, in whose links are hung monkeys, ele- 
phants, cats, spiders, lambs, dogs, horses, 
donkeys, and an incidental Noah. It shall 



IQ§ HELENA MODJESKA. 

go hard, forsooth, if you do not find your fa- 
vorite creature in one of these. 

There yonder in the box sits the Duchess 
of — but halte-la ! If I go on enumerating one 
by one the beautiful women who were pre- 
sent, and how they looked, and what they 
wore, I shall leave myself no space for the 
real event of the evening — I mean Modjeskas 
success, not the presence of Mr. Gladstone 
and his handsome son Herbert. The pre- 
mier sat directly in front of me in the stalls. 
What an amazing man is this great minister, 
orator, author, statesman, and scholar ! He 
is seventy-four, is he not? A marvel! The 
stalwart frame is as erect as that of a strong 
man of thirty, the eye keen and bright ; the 
features no more worn than they probably 
were at fifty. The hair is very thin and scat- 
tered, to be sure, and during the whole even- 
ing I had so constant an opportunity to study 
the phrenological developments of the cra- 
nium of this great person, that I bitterly re- 
gretted my education in that line had been 



HELENA MODJESKA. 1 99 

neglected. What signifies a little, button- 
like protuberance, about as big as a shilling, 
situated midway of the back head ? Is this 
a sign of greatness? If so, would one 
factiously raised, as, say by a boil, or a whack 
from some hard weapon, be of service ? 
Throughout the whole play Mr. Gladstone's 
attention was riveted upon the stage, and 
his valiant hands often led the applause. His 
son Herbert is a charming young man, with 
a thick mass of black wavy hair covering his 
shapely head. His nose is delicate Greek, a 
small feature, in great contrast to the Wel- 
lingtonian nasal organ of his father. Cer- 
tainly he must be set down as a ' real beauty/ 
this worthy young man, but his face does not 
show much sign as yet of force of character. 
He has the manner of devoutly reverencing 
his father, and to be animated by the admira- 
ble desire to be a good boy. The couple sit 
in the front row of stalls, and do not stir the 
whole evening. A good many opera glasses 
are levelled at them, but there is no other 



200 HELENA MODJESKA. 

demonstration of interest in them on the part 
of the audience. London is conservative, as 
New York is democratic, and the people's 
William is not naturally such a favorite with 
the fashionable classes as Beaconsfield was. 
Ah, bon soir! that is Bronson Howard ; yon- 
der is George Augustus Sala; yonder Bouci- 
cault plus loin Palgrave Simpson, veteran 
critic and playwright and Secretary of the 
Dramatic Author's Society. In a box Mrs. 
Bancroft, with a great bunch of white lilacs, 
which she later throws at Modjeska's feet. 
Sir Charles Young chats with Lady Monck- 
ton i a the entr' acts ; they are members of an 
amateur dramatic club, and act quite well for 
non-professionals. But basta, basta / "The 
play's the thing !" 

What a beautiful picture is La Modjeska 
a? Mary, Queen of Scots ! No, no ; you 
should see it ; it is something quite indescri- 
bable. The sweet, pale face, with the soft 
eyes, where the sad soul speaks louder than 
any words ; the mobile mouth, the delicate 



HELENA MODJESKA. 201 

profile, the frail form — all this encased and 
enframed in beautiful costumes of strictest ac- 
curacy ; the great ruff, the pointed coiffure, 
long, dark rich robes laden with fur, the 
large crucifix almost constantly held in the 
delicate right hand, the handkerchief cut in 
deep points and trimmed with golden tassels. 
Every inch a queen, by my faith ! nobility in 
suffering, royal grandeur in the face of death 
itself. And observe what self-command is 
shown by this exquisite artist in her firmness 
in resisting all acknowledgment of her amaz- 
ing ' reception/ At sight of her cheers rent^ 
the air, handkerchiefs were waved aloft, a 
storm of applause shook the welkin, and 
made it ring. Calm, resigned, a sad smile 
wreathing the fine lips, the tender eyes up- 
cast to heaven, so Modjeska stood until quiet 
reigned. "Such a sweet face," murmured 
Lady Monckton, behind me. The jolly 
Gladstones laid their heads together and 
whispered their opinions in front of me. 
Boucicault tells the critic of the ' Observer ' 



202 HELENA MODJESKA. 

how successful the refined Polish actress was 
in America. 

Well chosen, the part of Mary Stuart for 
Motljeska in respect of accent. What harm 
that a French Queen should speak English 
with a foreign flavor? In the more exciting 
speeches, true, she was like Janauschek : 
occasionally indistinct, ran the words togeth- 
er ; but improvement in this will come. 
Fancy the excitement to her of such an un- 
derstanding before such an audience. The 
thrilling scene in Fotheringay Park between 
the two Queens was rewarded with renewed 
cheers — cheers, hearty, loud-voiced cheers 
mark you — cheers that, unlike the cup, almost 
inebriate, so exhilarating are they. Mod- 
jeska's frame quivered like a wind-shaken 
leaf during this delirious moment, when her 
artistic triumph was so superbly acknowl- 
edged by an audience of those people over 
whom the lovely Mary so ardently wished to 
reiom. But never once did she fall into the 

o 

stilted mannerisms of the old school of act- 



HELENA MODJESKA. 203 

ing. She is of her epoch, Modjeska. She 
knows the key-note of the character of the 
English nation of to-day : Avoid the ap- 
pearance of energy ; energy is such deuced 
bad form. Have feelings, but avoid the 
energetic expression of them. Be intense, 
not demonstrative. Look daggers, but use 

none. 

Olive Logan. 

Philadelphia Times, 



Success on the Stage, 



HELENA MODJESKA. 



SUCCESS ON THE STAGE. 




[The following article, written by Madame Modjeska, 
appeared in the ' ' North American Review " for December, 
1882, and gives fully her ideas upon the art of acting.] 

THINK that success, in the usual 
meaning of the word, ought not to 
be the chief ambition of the dramatic 
candidate. His aim should be higher; his 
great object should be to be true to his art, 
whether such fidelity be rewarded by appre- 
ciation from the public or not. " Fats ce que 
dots, advienne qtie pourra" must be his mot- 
to. Success is not always the best evidence 
of artistic merit. How many good actors have 
remained all their lives in obscurity, and, on 
the other hand, how many indifferent ones 



208 HELENA MODJESKA. 

have obtained a certain kind of popularity. 
Above everything, an artist ought "never to 
sacrifice his own artistic convictions to the 
momentary tastes of the public ; such a sac- 
rifice, although followed by a short-lived suc- 
cess, will lower him as an artist, and kill in 
him whatever there may be of natural ability. 

The actor, like the poet or the painter, 
must be born with a certain amount of native 
talent, which, if neglected, may disappear, 
but, if cultivated thoroughly and rightly, will 
produce the desired results. I believe, how- 
ever, that a person who is deprived of these 
natural gifts, and who possesses an average 
amount of intelligence, can, by careful and 
judicious training, acquire a certain amount 
of technical knowledge, or what I would call 
the handicraft of the profession, so as to fill, 
respectably, minor parts on the stage, and 
not be out of place in what is called a good 
ensemble. 

But I cannot believe that a person not 
possessing those natural gifts has ever ac- 






HELENA MODJESKA. 209 

quired by study the " creative power " which 
is the distinctive mark of a true artist. With 
the actor, creative power implies the faculty 
of building up a character true to nature, 
and of endowing it with life, so as to produce 
the illusion that his personation is not a fic- 
tion, but a reality. 

True, we have, in the annals of the stage, 
quite a number of instances of actors being 
unpromising at first and eventually becom- 
ing eminent. This does not prove that they 
did not possess the necessary talent, but 
simply shows that for some reason or other, 
they were not able to display their ability. 
Possibly nervousness, want of experience, or 
injudicious choice of parts deprived them 
for a time of their power ; while later on, ex- 
perience, good advice, or some fortunate cir- 
cumstance allowed them to bring to the sur- 
face what was concealed within. In a word, 
then, the first essential qualification for an 
actor consists in an inborn talent, the char- 
acter of which might possibly be described 
14 



2IO HELENA MODJESKA. 

as an imaginative and assimilative faculty, 
which allows him to merge his individuality 
into that of another. 

The next essential is the constant study 
and work required to cultivate and improve 
the natural gifts. I never have seen genius 
succeed without labor, and I suppose that it is 
the inseparable quality of genius that it will 
never neglect activity in the special branch 
of science or art toward which it is inclined. 
Was it not Goethe who said that genius was 
always accompanied by an extraordinary 
ability to work, and that its peculiar charac- 
ter partly consisted of an instinctive knowl- 
edge how to work. But the happy possessor 
of genius has, intuitively, a deeper insight 
into the mysteries of art, which enables him 
to learn quickly, and which shows him the 
most direct path to follow. Besides, study 
and observation being congenial to him, his 
task appears easy, and his efforts are not 
strained. But, nevertheless, true genius 
could not exist with laziness and inactivity. 



.HELENA MODJESKA. 2 I 1 

I do not think that the feeling of a special 
aptitude for acting should be much relied 
upon. Genius is generally unconscious of 
itself. I have generally observed that the 
most eminent artists were often the most 
diffident and unassuming, and that they 
passed frequently through periods of great 
discouragement. There are moments in the 
life of an artist when he may feel like Michel 
Angelo, exclaiming before his statue of 
Moses, " Pore he non parlai?" But such 
moments are rare. How much more fre- 
quent are those when, feeling how far he is 
yet from the ideal that he tries to attain, he 
is tempted to throw away his brush, his 
chisel, or his stage-purple, and to give up the 
Herculean task ? 

The right frame of mind, I imagine, for 
one who enters upon a dramatic career, must 
not consist so much in a feeling of confidence 
in his own powers as in a sincere devotion 
to his art, a firm belief in its high mission, 
while in his heart must burn that sacred 



212 HELENA MODJESKA. 

flame which gives him the courage and 
energy to overcome all obstacles and undergo 
all privations. It is what we Catholics call 
" vocation/' 

It would be a great mistake to choose the 
profession with the idea that money comes 
easier and work is less hard in this than, in any 
other. There is little hope for the advance- 
ment of such aspirants. 

There is no greater mistake than to sup- 
pose that mere professional training is the 
only necessary education. The general cul- 
tivation of the mind, the development of all 
the intellectual faculties, the knowledge how 
to think, are more essential to the actor than 
mere professional instruction. In no case 
should he neglect the other branches of art; 
all of them being so nearly akin, he cannot 
attain to a fine artistic taste, if he is entirely 
unacquainted with music, the plastic arts, and 
poetry. 

The best school of acting seems to me to 
be the stage itself — when one begins by 



HELENA MODJESKA. 213 

playing small parts, and slowly, step by step, 
reaches the more important ones. There is 
a probability that if you play well a minor 
character, you will play greater ones well by 
and by ; while if you begin with the latter, 
you may prove deficient in them, and after- 
ward be both unwilling and unable to play 
small parts. It was my ill- fortune to be put, 
soon after my entrance on the stage, in the 
position of star in a travelling company. I 
think it was the greatest danger I encoun- 
tered in my career, and the consequence was 
that when I afterward entered a regular 
stock company, I had not only a great deal 
to learn, but much more to unlearn. 

The training by acting, in order to be 
useful, requires a certain combination of cir- 
cumstances. It is good in the stock com- 
panies of Europe, because with them the 
play -bill is constantly changed, and the 
young actor is required to appear in a great 
variety of characters during a short period. 
But it may prove the reverse of good in a 



214 HELENA MODJESKA. 

theatre where the beginner may be compelled 
for a year or so to play one insignificant 
part. Such a course would be likely to kill 
in him all the love of his art, render him a 
mechanical automaton, and teach him but 
very little. 

Private instruction can be given either by 
professors of elocution or by experienced 
actors. I know nothing of the first, as there 
are no professors of elocution, to my knowl- 
edge, outside of America and of England, 
and I never knew one personally. But 
speaking of private lessons given by experi- 
enced actors, there are certainly a great many 
arguments and instances in favor of that 
mode of instruction. Of course, a great deal 
depends upon the choice of the teacher. But, 
supposing he is capable, he can devote more 
time to a private pupil than he can to one in 
a public school. Some of the greatest ac- 
tresses that, ever lived owed, in great part, 
their success to the instructions of an experi- 
enced actor, of less genius than themselves, 



HELENA MODJESKA. £t$ 

Take, for instance, Rachel and Samson. 
Strange to say, it happens often that very 
good actors make but poor professors, while 
the best private teacher I ever met was, like 
Michonnet, but an indifferent actor himself. 
The danger is that the pupil in this kind of 
instruction may become a mere imitator of 
his model. Imitation is the worst mode of 
learning, and the worst method in art, as it 
kills the individual creative power, and in 
most cases, the imitators only follow the 
peculiar failings of their model. 

There are many objections to dramatic 
schools, some of which are very forcible. 
There is in them, as in private teaching, the 
danger of imitation, and of getting into a 
purely mechanical habit, which produces con- 
ventional, artificial acting. Yet it is not to 
be denied that a great number of the best 
French and German actresses and actors 
have been pupils of dramatic schools, and 
that two of the schools — those of Paris and 
Vienna — have justly enjoyed a great cele- 



2l6 HELENA MODJESKA. 

brity. Of the schools I have known person- 
ally I cannot speak very favorably. One 
point must be borne in mind ; a dramatic 
school ought to have an independent financial 
basis, and not rely for its support on the 
number of its pupils, because in such a case 
the managers might be induced to receive 
candidates not in the least qualified for the 
dramatic profession. 

Of the three elements that, in my opinion, 
go to make up a good dramatic artist, the 
first one, technique, must be acquired by 
professional training; the second and higher 
one, which is art itself, originates in a na- 
tural genius, but can and ought to be im- 
proved by the general cultivation of the 
mind. But there is yet something beyond 
these two : it is inspiration. This cannot be 
acquired or improved, but it can be lost by 
neglect. Inspiration, which Jefferson calls 
his demon, and which I would call my angel, 
does not depend upon us. Happy the 
moments when it responds to our appeal. 



HELENA M0DJESKA. 21 J 

It is only at such moments that an artist can 
feel satisfaction in his work — pride in his 
creation ; and this feeling is the only real 
and true success which ought to be the 
object of his ambition. 

Helena Modjeska. 



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